THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT 


•--'  "--•;:'--': 


SWALLOW 


BY   THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 


HEART  OF  THE  WORLD. 

JOAN  HASTE. 

THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  MIST. 

MONTEZUMA'S  DAUGHTER. 

SHE. 

ALLAN  QUATERMAIN. 

MAIWA'S  REVENGE. 

COLONEL  QUARITCH,  V.C. 

CLEOPATRA. 

BEATRICE. 

ERIC  BRIGHTEYES. 

NADA  THE  LILY. 

ALLAN'S  WIFE. 

THE  WITCH'S  HEAD. 

MR.  MEESON'S  WILL. 

DAWN. 

CETYWAYO  AND  His  WHITE  NEIGHBOURS. 

KING  SOLOMON'S  MINES. 

JESS. 

THE  WIZARD. 

DOCTOR  THERNE. 

(IN  COLLABORATION  WITH  ANDREW  LANG. 
THE  WORLD'S  DESIRE. 


Colleg* 
Library 

PR 

4751 


Ditchingham, 

My  dear  Clarke, 

Over  twenty  years  have  passed  since  we  found  some  unique 
opportunities  of  observing  Boer  and  Kaffir  character  in  company; 
therefore  it  is  not  perhaps  out  of  place  that  I  shoultl  ask  yon  to  allow 
me  to  put  your  name  upon  a  book  which  deals  more  or  less  with  the 
peculiarities  of  those  races  —  a  tale  of  the  great  Trek  of  1836. 

You,  as  I  know,  entertain  both  for  Dutchman  and  Bantu  that 
regard  tempered  by  a  sense  of  respectful  superiority  which  we  are  apt 
to  feel  for  those  who  on  sundry  occasions  have  but  just  failed  in  bring- 
ing our  earthly  career  to  an  end.  The  latter  of  these  admirations  I 
share  to  the  full;  and  in  the  case  of  the  first  of  them,  as  I  hope  that  the 
dour  but  not  unkintlly  character  of  Vrouw  Botmar  icill  prove  to  you, 
time  softens  a  man's  judgment.  Nor  have  I  ever  questioned,  as  the 
worthy  Vrouw  tells  us,  that  in  the  beginning  of  the  trouble  the  Boers 
met  with  much  of  which  to  complain  at  the  hands  of  English  Gov- 
ernments. Their  maltreatment  was  not  intentional  indeed,  but  rather 
a  result  of  the  systematic  neglect  —  to  use  a  mill  word  —  of  colonies  and 
their  inhabitants,  which  has  culminated,  within  our  own  experience, 
only,  thanfa  to  a  merciful  change  in  public  opinion,  to  pass  away  for 
ever.  Sympathy  with  the  Voortrekkers  of  1836  is  easy  ;  whether  it 
remains  so  in  the  ca-se  of  their  descendants,  the  present  masters  of  thr, 
Transvaal,  is  a  matter  that  admits  of  many  opinions.  At  the  least, 
allowance  should  always  be  mad*  for  the  susceptibilities  of  a  race  thtit 


finds  its  individuality  and  national  life  sinking  slowly,  but  without 
hope  of  resurrection,  beneath  an  invading  flood  of  Anglo-Saxons. 

But  these  are  issues  of  to-day  with  which  this  story  has  little 
to  do. 

Without  further  explanations,  then,  I  hope  that  you  icill  accept  these 
pages  in  memory  of  past  time  and  fellowship,  and  more  especially  of 
the  providential  events  connected  with  a  night-long  ride  which  once 
we  took  on  duty  togetJier  among  the  "schanses"  and  across  the  moon- 
lit paths  of  SecocoenVs  mountain. 

Believe  me,  my  dear  Clarice, 

Your  sincere  friend, 

II.   RIDER  HAGGARD. 

To  Lieut.- Colonel  /Sir  Marshal,  Clarice,  If.  A.,  K.C.M.G. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  WHY  VROUW  BOTMAR  TELLS  HER  TALE              .        .  1 

II.  How  SUZANNE  FOUND  RALPH  KENZIE  ....  9 

III.  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SHIPWRECK 18 

IV.  THE  SHADOW  OF  THE  ENGLISHMEN       ....  27 
V.  A  LOVE  SCENE  AND  A  QUARREL 37 

VI.  THE  COMING  OF  THE  ENGLISHMEN         ....  47 

VII.  THE  SIN  OF  VROUW  BOTMAR         .....  56 

VIII.  THE  WISDOM  OF  SUZANNE     ......  64 

IX.  How  SUZANNE  SAVED  SIIIAMHA 73 

X.  THE  OATH  OF  SIUAMBA         ......  83 

XI.  A  FIGHT  AND  A  SHOT   .......  !)1 

XII.  WHAT  THE  Cow  SHOWED  ZINTI 103 

XIII.  THE  SCHIMMEL'*  FIRST  RACE 113 

XIV.  THE  WEDDING 126 

XV.  RALPH  RETURNS  INTO  THE  SEA    .        .                .        .  135 

XVI.  How  RALPH  CAME  BACK  TO  THE  STEAD      .         .         .  144 

XVII.  TUB  HIDDEN  KRANTZ 156 

XVIII.  WHAT  PASSED  IN  THE  HUT 163 

XIX.  HOW  THE   SCHIMMEL  CROSSED   THE   RED    WATER    .            .  174 

XX.  THE  OMEN  OF  TUE  WHITE  SWALLOW           .        .  183 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXI.  THE  VISION  OF  RALPH  AND  SUZANNE        .        .        .     192 

XXII.  THE  WAR  OF  THE  CLEAN  SPEAR       .        .        .        .203 

XXIII.  How  SUZANNE  BECAME  A  CHIEFTAINESS    .        .        .     212 

XXIV.  THE  MADNESS  OF  RALPH  KENZIE       .         .         .        .223 
XXV.     THE  GREAT  TREK 232 

XXVI.  How  GAASHA  BROUGHT  GOOD  LUCK  ....     243 

XXVII.     SWART  PIET  SETS  A  SNARE 252 

XXVIII.     THE  COMING  OF  THE  IMPI 262 

XXIX.     THIRST         ...  271 

XXX.     SIHAMBA  PREVAILS 280 

XXXI.     SIHAMBA'S  FAREWELL 289 

XXXII.  THE  PASS  OF  TEE  QUATHLAMBA         .        .        .        .298 

XXXIII.  RALPH  FINDS  THE  DREAM  MOUNTAIN        .        ,        .     307 

XXXIV.  THE  AVENGER  OF  BLOOD 317 

XXXV.  THE  SCHWMEL'S  LAST  RACE                                        ,     328 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

IN  THIS  EAGLES'    EYRIE   OF   A   SEAT   SUZANNE    SAT 

.  .  .  WATCHING  EVER Frontispiece 

THERE  .   .   .  STOOD   THE   CHILD    SUZANNE  .   .   .  AND 

LEANING   ON   HER   SHOULDER    ...    A   HOY         .  .    Fating  page      14 

"  SIGN,"  HE  SAID  .  .  .  "THE  LIGHT  DIES  "  ,,  63 

"  THE  DOG  LIVES  YET,"  RAVED  S\VART  PlET      .  .  „  143 

"  NOTHING,  NOTHING  SHALL  BE  YOURS  "     .        .  .  ,,  183 

" SPARE  ME  AND  i  SHALL  BRING  YOU  GOOD  LUCK"  .  ,,  245 

HE  DREW  THE  SHARP  EDGE   OK  THE   SPEAR   ACROSS 

THE  LASHING ,,  320 

BLACK  CLUTCHING  HANDS  CAUGHT  FEET  AND  BRIDLE 

REIN  ...  .  332 


SWALLOW 


WHY   VROUW    UOTMAR   TELLS    HER   TALE 

IT  is  a  strange  thing  that  I,  an  old  Boer  vrouw,  should 
even  think  of  beginning  to  write  a  book  when  there  are 
such  numbers  already  in  the  world,  most  of  them  worth- 
less, and  many  of  the  rest  a  scandal  and  offence  in  the  face 
of  the  Lord.  Notably  is  this  so  in  the  case  of  those  called 
novels,  which  are  stiff  as  mealie-pap  with  lies  that  fill  the 
heads  of  silly  girls  with  vain  imaginings,  causing  them  to 
neglect  their  household  duties  and  to  look  out  of  the  cor- 
ners of  their  eyes  at  young  men  of  whom  their  elders  do 
not  approve.  In  truth,  my  mother  and  those  whom  I 
knew  in  my  youth,  fifty  years  ago,  when  women  were  good 
and  worthy  and  never  had  a  thought  beyond  their  hus- 
bands and  their  children,  would  laugh  aloud  could  any 
whisper  in  their  dead  ears  that  Suzanne  Naude  was  about 
to  write  a  book.  Well  might  they  laugh  indeed,  seeing 
that  to  this  hour  the  most  that  I  can  do  with  pen  and  ink 
is  to  sign  my  own  name  very  large;  in  this  matter  alone, 
not  being  the  equal  of  my  husband  Jan,  who,  before  ho 
became  paralysed,  had  so  much  learning  that  he  could 


2  SWALLOW 

read  aloud  from  the  Bible,  leaving  out  the  names  and  long 
words. 

No,  no,  /  am  not  going  to  write;  it  is  my  great-grand- 
daughter, who  is  named  Suzanne  after  me,  who  writes. 
And  who  that  had  not  seen  her  at  the  work  could  even 
guess  how  she  does  it?  I  tell  you  that  she  has  brought  up 
from  Durban  a  machine  about  the  size  of  a  pumpkin  which 
goes  tap-tap — like  a  woodpecker,  and  prints  as  it  taps. 
Now,  my  husband  Jan  was  always  very  fond  of  music  in 
his  youth,  and  when  first  the  girl  began  to  tap  upon  this 
strange  instrument,  he,  being  almost  blind  and  not  able  to 
see  it,  thought  that  she  was  playing  on  a  spinet  such  as 
stood  in  my  grandfather's  house  away  in  the  Old  Colony. 
The  noise  pleases  him  and  sends  him  to  sleep,  reminding 
him  of  the  days  when  he  courted  me  and  I  used  to  strum 
upon  that  spinet  with  one  finger.  Therefore  I  am  dic- 
tating this  history  that  he  may  have  plenty  of  it,  and  that 
Suzanne  may  be  kept  out  of  mischief. 

There,  that  is  my  joke.  Still  there  is  truth  in  it,  for 
Jan  Botmar,  my  husband,  he  who  was  the  strongest  man 
among  the  fathers  of  the  great  trek  of  1836,  when,  like 
the  Israelites  of  old,  we  escaped  from  the  English,  our  mas- 
ters, into  the  wilderness,  crouches  in  the  corner  yonder  a 
crippled  giant  with  but  one  sense  left  to  him,  his  hearing, 
and  a  little  power  of  wandering  speech.  It  is  strange  to 
look  at  him,  his  white  hair  hanging  upon  his  shoulders, 
his  eyes  glazed,  his  chin  sunk  upon  his  breast,  his  great 
hands  knotted  and  helpless,  and  to  remember  that  at  the 
battle  of  Ycchtkop,  when  Moselikatse  sent  his  regiments  to 
crush  us,  I  saw  those  same  hands  of  his  seize  the  only  two 
Zulus  who  broke  a  way  into  our  laager  and  shake  and  dash 
them  together  till  they  were  dead. 

Well,  well,  who  am  I  that  I  should  talk?     For  has  not 


the  dropsy  got  hold  of  my  legs,  and  did  not  that  doctor, 
who,  though  an  Englishman,  is  no  fool,  tell  me  but  yester- 
day that  it  was  creeping  up  towards  my  heart?  We  are 
old  and  soon  must  die,  for  such  is  the  will  of  God.  Let  us 
then  thank  God  that  it  is  our  lot  to  pass  thus  easily  and  in 
age,  and  not  to  have  perished  in  our  youth,  as  did  so  many 
of  our  companions,  the  Voortrekkers,  they  and  their  chil- 
dren together,  by  the  spear  of  the  savage,  or  by  starvation 
and  fever  and  wild  beasts  in  the  wilderness.  Ah!  I  think 
of  them  often,  and  in  my  sleep,  which  has  grown  light  of 
late,  I  see  them  often,  and  hear  those  voices  that  none  but 
I  would  know  to-day.  I  think  of  them  and  I  see  them, 
and  since  Suzanne  has  the  skill  to  set  down  my  words,  a 
desire  comes  upon  me  to  tell  of  them  and  their  deeds  be- 
fore God  takes  me  by  the  hand  and  I  am  borne  through 
the  darkness  by  the  wings  of  God. 

Also  there  is  another  reason.  The  girl,  Suzanne  Kenzie, 
my  great-granddaughter,  who  writes  this,  alone  is  left  of 
my  blood,  since  her  father  and  grandfather,  who  was  our 
adopted  son,  and  the  husband  of  our  only  child,  fell  in 
the  Zulu  war  fighting  with  the  English  against  Cetywayo. 
Xow  many  have  heard  the  strange  story  of  Ralph  Kenzie, 
the  English  castaway,  and  of  how  he  was  found  by  our 
daughter  Suzanne.  Many  have  heard  also  the  still  stranger 
story  of  how  this  child  of  ours,  Suzanne,  in  her  need,  was 
sheltered  by  savages,  and  for  more  than  two  years  lived 
with  Sihamba,  the  little  witch  doctress  and  ruler  of  the 
Tribe  of  the  Mountains,  till  Ralph,  her  husband,  who 
loved  her,  sought  her  out  and  rescued  her,  that  by  the 
mercy  of  the  Lord  during  all  this  time  had  suffered  neither 
harm  nor  violence.  Yes,  many  have  heard  of  these  things, 
for  in  bygone  years  there  was  much  talk  of  them  as  of 
events  out  of  nature  and  marvellous,  but  few  have  heard 


4  SWALLOW 

them  right.  Therefore  before  I  go,  I,  who  remember  and 
know  them  all,  would  set  them  down  that  they  may  be 
a  record  for  ever  among  my  descendants  and  the  descend- 
ants of  Ealph  Kenzie,  my  foster-son,  who,  having  been 
brought  up  amongst  us  Boers,  was  the  best  and  bravest 
Englishman  that  ever  lived  in  Africa. 

And  now  I  will  tell  of  the  finding  of  Ealph  Kenzie 
many  years  ago. 

To  begin  at  the  beginning,  my  husband,  Jan  Botmar,  is 
one  of  the  well-known  Boer  family  of  that  name,  the  most 
of  whom  lived  in  the  Graafreinet  district  in  the  Old  Colony 
till  some  of  them  trekked  into  the  Transkei,  when  I  was 
still  a  young  girl,  to  be  as  far  as  they  could  from  the  heart 
of  the  British  power.  Nor  did  they  trek  for  a  little  reason. 
Listen  and  judge. 

One  of  the  Bezuidenhouts,  Frederick,  was  accused  of 
treating  some  black  slave  of  his  cruelly,  and  a  body  of  the 
accursed  Pandours,  the  Hottentots  whom  the  English  had 
made  into  a  regiment,  were  sent  to  arrest  him.  He  would 
not  suffer  that  these  black  creatures  should  lay  hands  upon 
a  Boer,  so  he  fled  to  a  cave  and  fought  there  till  he  was 
shot  dead.  Over  his  open  grave  his  brethren  and  friends 
swore  to  take  vengeance  for  his  murder,  and  fifty  of  them 
raised  an  insurrection.  They  were  pursued  by  the  Pan- 
dours and  by  burghers  more  law  abiding  or  more  cautious, 
till  Jan  Bezuidenhout,  the  brother  of  Frederick,  was  shot 
also,  fighting  to  the  last  while  his  wife  and  little  son  loaded 
the  rifles.  Then  the  rest  were  captured  and  put  upon 
their  trial,  and  to  the  rage  and  horror  of  all  their  country- 
men the  brutal  British  governor  of  that  day,  who  was 
named  Somerset,  ordered  five  of  them  to  be  hanged,  among 


VROUW  BOTMAR  TELLS  SER  TALE    5 

them  my  husband's  father  and  uncle.  Petitions  for  mercy 
availed  nothing,  and  these  five  were  tied  to  a  beam  like 
Kaffir  dogs  yonder  at  Slagter's  Nek,  they  who  had  shed 
the  blood  of  no  man.  Yes,  yes,  it  is  true,  for  Jan,  my 
man,  saw  it;  he  saw  his  father  and  his  uncle  hanged  like 
dogs.  When  they  pushed  them  from  the  beam  four  of 
the  ropes  broke — perhaps  they  had  been  tampered  with,  I 
know  not — but  still  the  devils  who  murdered  them  would 
show  no  mercy.  Jan  ran  to  his  father  and  cast  his  arms 
about  him,  but  they  tore  him  away. 

"  Do  not  forget,  my  son,"  he  gasped  as  he  lay  there  on 
the  ground  with  the  broken  rope  about  his  neck,  nor  did 
Jan  ever  forget. 

It  was  after  this  that  the  Botmars  trekked  into  the 
Transkei,  and  with  them  some  other  families,  amongst 
whom  were  the  Naudes,  my  parents.  Here  in  the  Transkei 
the  widow  Botmar  and  my  father  were  near  neighbours, 
their  steads  being  at  a  distance  from  each  other  of  about 
three  hours  upon  horseback,  or  something  over  twenty 
miles.  In  those  days,  I  may  say  it  without  shame  now,  I 
was  the  prettiest  girl  in  the  Transkei,  a  great  deal  prettier 
than  my  granddaughter  Suzanne  there,  although  some 
think  well  of  her  looks,  but  not  so  well  as  she  thinks  of 
them  herself,  for  that  would  be  impossible.  I  have  been 
told  that  I  have  noble  French  blood  in  my  veins,  though 
I  care  little  for  this,,  being  quite  content  to  be  one  of  the 
Boers,  who  are  all  of  noble  blood.  At  least  I  believe  that 
my  great-grandfather  was  a  French  Huguenot  Count  who 
fled  from  his  country  to  escape  massacre  because  of  his 
religion.  From  him  and  his  wife  Suzanne,  so  it  is  said, 
we  women  of  the  Nancies  get  our  beauty,  for  we  have  al- 
ways been  beautiful;  but  the  loveliest  of  the  race  by  far  was 
my  daughter  Suzanne  who  married  the  Englishman,  Ralph 


G  SWALLOW 

Kenzie,  from  which  time  our  good  looks  have  begun  to  fall 
off,,  though  it  is  true  that  he  was  no  ill-favoured  man. 

Whatever  the  cause,  in  my  youth,  I  was  not  like  the 
other  Boer  girls,  who  for  the  most  part  are  stout,  heavy, 
and  slow  of  speech,  even  hefore  they  are  married,  nor  did 
I  need  to  wear  a  kopje  to  keep  a  pink  and  white  face  from 
burning  in  the  sun.  I  was  not  tall,  hut  my  figure  was 
rounded  and  my  movements  were  as  quick  as  my  tongue. 
Also  I  had  brown  hair  that  curled  and  brown  eyes  beneath 
it,  and  full  red  lips,  which  all  the  young  men  of  that  dis- 
trict— and  there  were  six  of  them  who  can  be  counted — 
would  have  given  their  best  horse  to  kiss,  with  the  saddle 
and  bridle  thrown  in.  But  remember  this,  Suzanne,  I 
never  suffered  them  to  do  so,  for  in  my  time  girls  knew 
better  what  was  right. 

Well,  among  all  these  suitors  I  favoured  Jan  Botmar,  the 
old  cripple  who  sits  yonder,  though  in  those  days  he  was 
no  cripple  but  the  properest  man  a  girl  could  wish  to  see. 
My  father  was  against  such  'a  match,  for  he  had  the  old 
French  pride  of  race  in  him,  and  thought  little  of  the  Bot- 
mar family,  as  though  we  were  not  all  the  children  of  one 
God — except  the  black  Kaffirs,  who  are  the  children  of  the 
devil.  But  in  the  end  he  gave  way,  for  Jan  was  well-to-do; 
so  after  we  had  "  oppsitted  "  together  several  times  accord- 
ing to  our  customs,  and  burnt  many  very  long  candles,* 
we  were  married  and  went  to  live  on  a  farm  of  our  own 
at  a  distance.  For  my  part  I  have  never  regretted  it,  al- 
though doubtless  I  might  have  done  much  better  for  my- 

*  Tt  is  customary  among  the  Boors  for  the  suitor  to  sit  up  alone  at 
night  with  the  object  of  his  choice.  Should  the  lady  favour  him,  she 
lights  long  candles,  but  if  he  does  not  please  her  she  produces  "  ends," 
signifying  thereby  that  she  prefers  his  room  to  his  company. 

AUTHOR 


WHY  VROUW  20PMA&  TELLS  HER  TALE    ? 

self;  and  if  Jan  did,  he  lias  been  wise  enough  not  to  say  so 
to  me.  In  this  country  most  of  us  women  must  choose  a 
man  to  look  after — it  is  a  burden  that  Heaven  lays  upon 
us — so  one  may  as  well  choose  him  one  fancies,  and  Jan 
was  my  fancy,  though  why  he  should  have  been  I  am  sure 
I  do  not  know.  Well,  if  he  had  any  wits  left  he  would 
speak  up  and  tell  what  a  blessing  I  have  been  to  him,  and 
how  often  my  good  sense  has  supplied  the  lack  of  his,  and 
how  I  forgave  him,  yes,  and  helped  him  out  of  the  scrape 
when  he  made  a  fool  of  himself  with — but  I  will  not  write 
of  that,  for  it  makes  me  angry,  and  as  likely  as  not  I  should 
throw  something  at  him  before  I  had  finished,  which  he 
would  not  understand. 

No,  no;  I  do  not  regret  it,  and,  what  is  more,  when  my 
man  dies  I  shall  not  be  long  behind  him.  Ah!  they  may 
talk,  all  these  wise  young  people;  but,  after  all,  what  is 
there  better  for  a  woman  than  to  love  some  man,  the  good 
and  the  bad  of  him  together,  to  bear  his  children  and  to 
share  his  sorrows,  and  to  try  to  make  him  a  little  better 
and  a  little  less  selfish  and  unfortunate  than  he  would  have 
been  alone?  Poor  men!  Without  us  women  their  lot  would 
be  hard  indeed,  and  how  they  will  get  on  in  heaven,  where 
they  are  not  allowed  to  marry,  is  more  than  I  can  guess. 

So  we  married,  and  within  a  year  our  daughter  was  born 
and  christened  by  the  family  name  of  Suzanne  after  me, 
though  almost  from  her  cradle  the  Kaffirs  called  her 
"  Swallow,"  I  am  not  sure  why.  She  was  a  very  beautiful 
child  from  the  first,  and  she  was  the  only  one,  for  I  was  ill 
at  her  birth  and  never  had  any  more  children.  The  other 
women  with  their  coveys  of  eight  and  ten  and  twelve  used 
to  condole  with  me  about  this,  and  get  a  sharp  answer  for 
their  pains.  I  had  one  which  always  shut  their  mouths, 
but  I  won't  ask  the  girl  here  to  set  it  down.  An  only 


8  SWALLOW 

daughter  was  enough  for  me,  I  said,  and  if  it  wasn't  1 
shouldn't  have  told  them  so,  for  the  truth  is  that  it  is  best 
to  take  these  things  as  we  find  them,  and  whether  it  be  one 
or  ten,  to  declare  that  that  is  just  as  we  would  wish  it.  I 
know  that  when  we  were  on  the  great  trek  and  I  saw  the 
kinderchies  of  others  dying  of  starvation,  or  massacred 
in  dozens  by  the  Kaffir  devils,  ah!  then  I  was  glad  that  we 
had  no  more  children.  Heartaches  enough  my  ewe  lamb 
Suzanne  gave  me  during,  those  bitter  years  when  she  was 
lost.  And  when  she  died,  having  lived  out  her  life  just  be- 
fore her  husband,  Ealph  Kenzie,  went  on  commando  with 
his  son  to  the  Zulu  war,  whither  her  death  drove  him,  ah! 
then  it  ached  for  the  last  time.  When  next  my  heart 
aches  it  shall  be  with  joy  to  find  them  both  in  Heaven. 


HOW    SUZANNE    FOUND    RALPH    KENZIE 

OUR  farm  where  we  lived  in  the  Transkei  was  not  very 
far  from  the  ocean;  indeed,  any  one  seated  on  the  kopje  or 
little  hill  at  the  back  of  the  house,  from  the  very  top  of 
which  bubbles  a  spring  of  fresh  water,  can  see  the  great 
rollers  striking  the  straight  cliffs  of  the  shore  and  spouting 
into  the  air  in  clouds  of  white  foam.  Even  in  warm 
weather  they  spout  thus,  but  when  the  south-easterly  gales 
blow  then  the  sight  and  the  sound  of  them  are  terrible  as 
they  rush  in  from  the  black  water  one  after  another  for 
days  and  nights  together.  Then  the  cliffs  shiver  beneath 
their  blows,  and  the  spray  flies  up  as  though  it  were  driven 
from  the  nostrils  of  a  thousand  whales,  and  is  swept  inland 
in  clouds,  turning  the  grass  and  the  leaves  of  the  trees 
black  in  its  breath.  Woe  to  the  ship  that  is  caught  in 
those  breakers  and  ground  against  those  rocks,  for  soon 
nothing  is  left  of  it  save  scattered  timbers  shivered  as 
though  by  lightning. 

One  winter — it  was  when  Suzanne  was  seven  years  old 
— such  a  south-east  gale  as  this  blew  for  four  days,  and  on 
a  certain  evening  after  the  Avind  had  fallen,  having  finished 
my  household  work,  I  went  to  the  top  of  the  kopje  to  rest 
and  look  at  the  sea,  which  was  still  raging  terribly,  taking 
with  me  Suzanne.  I  had  been  sitting  there  ten  minutes 


10 

or  more  when  Jan,  my  husband,  joined  me,  and  I  won- 
dered why  he  had  come,  for  he,  as  brave  a  man  as  ever 
lived  in  all  other  things,  was  greatly  afraid  of  the  sea,  and, 
indeed,  of  any  water.  So  afraid  was  he  that  he  did  not 
like  the  sight  of  it  in  its  anger,  and  would  wake  at  nights  at 
the  sound  of  a  storm — yes,  he  whom  I  have  seen  sleep 
through  the  trumpetings  of  frightened  elephants  and  the 
shouting  of  a  Zulu  impi. 

"  You  think  that  sight  fine,  wife,"  he  said,  pointing  to 
the  spouting  foam;  "  but  I  call  it  the  ugliest  in  the  world. 
Almighty!  it  turns  my  blood  cold  to  look  at  it  and  to  think 
that  Christian  men,  ay,  and  women  and  children  too,  may 
be  pounding  to  pulp  in  those  breakers." 

"  Without  doubt  the  death  is  as  good  as  another,"  I 
answered;  "  not  that  I  would  choose  it,  for  I  wish  to  die 
in  my  bed  with  the  predicant  saying  prayers  over  me,  and 
my  husband  weeping — or  pretending  to — at  the  foot  of 
it." 

"  Choose  it!  "  he  said.  "  I  had  sooner  be  speared  by  sav- 
ages or  hanged  by  the  English  Government  as  my  father 
was." 

"  What  makes  you  think  of  death  in  the  sea,  Jan  ?  "  I 
asked. 

"  Nothing,  wife,  nothing;  but  there  is  that  old  fool  of 
a  Pondo  witch-doctress  down  by  the  cattle  kraal,  and  I 
heard  her  telling  a  story  as  I  went  by  to  look  at  the  ox 
that  the  snake  bit  yesterday." 

"What  was  the  story?" 

"  Oh!  a  short  one;  she  said  she  had  it  from  the  coast 
Kaffirs — that  far  away,  up  towards  the  mouth  of  the  Um- 
zimbubu,  when  the  moon  was  young,  great  guns  had  been 
heard  fired  one  after  the  other,  minute  by  minute,  and  that 
then  a  ship  was  seen,  a  tall  ship  with  three  masts  and 


SOW  SUZANNE  FOVN&  ItALPH  RENZlti         ll 

many  '  eyes '  in  it — I  suppose  she  meant  portholes  with 
the  light  shining  through  them — drifting  on  to  the  coast 
before  the  wind,  for  a  storm  was  raging,  while  streaks  of 
fire  like  red  and  blue  lightnings  rushed  up  from  her 
decks." 

"Well,  and  then?" 

"And  then,  nothing.  Almighty!  that  is  all  the  tale. 
Those  waves  which  you  love  to  watch  can  tell  the  rest." 

"  Most  like  it  is  some  Kaffir  lie,  husband." 

"  May  be,  but  amongst  these  people  news  travels  faster 
than  a  good  horse,  and  before  now  there  have  been  wrecks 
upon  this  coast.  Child,  put  down  that  gun.  Do  you 
want  to  shoot  your  mother?  'Have  I  not  told  you  that 
you  must  never  touch  a  gun?  "  and  he  pointed  to  Suzanne, 
who  had  picked  up  her  father's  roer — for  in  those  days, 
when  we  lived  among  so  many  Kaffirs,  every  man  went 
armed — and  was  playing  at  soldiers  with  it. 

"  I  was  shooting  buck  and  Kaffirs,  papa,"  she  said,  obey- 
ing him  with  a  pout. 

"  Shooting  Kaffirs,  were  you?  Well,  there  will  be  a 
good  deal  of  that  to  do  before  all  is  finished  in  this  land, 
little  one.  But  it  is  not  work  for  girls;  you  should  have 
been  a  boy,  Suzanne." 

"  I  can't;  I  am  a  girl,"  she  answered;  "  and  I  haven't 
any  brothers  like  other  girls.  Why  haven't  I  any 
brothers?  " 

Jan  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  looked  at  me. 

"  Won't  the  sea  bring  me  a  brother?  "  went  on  the  child, 
for  she  had  been  told  that  little  children  came  out  of  the 
sea. 

"  Perhaps,  if  you  look  for  one  very  hard."  I  answered 
with  a  sigh,  little  knowing  what  fruit  would  spring  from 
this  seed  of  a  child's  talk. 


On  the  morrow  there  was  a  great  to  do  about  the  place, 
for  the  black  girl  whose  business  it  was  to  look  after 
Suzanne  came  in  at  breakfast  time  and  said  that  she  had 
lost  the  child.  It  seemed  that  they  had  gone  down  to  the 
shore  in  the  early  morning  to  gather  big  shells  such  as  are 
washed  up  there  after  a  heavy  storm,  and  that  Suzanne 
had  taken  with  her  a  bag  made  of  spring-buck  hide  in 
which  to  carry  them.  Well,  the  black  girl  sat  down  under 
the  shadow  of  a  rock,  leaving  Suzanne  to  wander  to  and 
fro  looking  for  the  shells,  and  not  for  an  hour  or  more  did 
she  get  up  to  find  her.  Then  she  searched  in  vain,  for 
the  spoor  of  the  child's  feet  led  from  the  sand  between  the 
rocks  to  the  pebbly  shore  above,  which  was  covered  with 
tough  sea  grasses,  and  there  was  lost.  Now  at  the  girl's 
story  I  was  frightened,  and  Jan  was  both  frightened  and 
so  angry  that  he  would  have  tied  her  up  and  flogged  her 
if  he  had  found  time.  But  of  this  there  was  none  to  lose, 
so  taking  with  him  such  Kaffirs  as  he  could  find  he  set  off 
for  the  seashore  to  hunt  for  Suzanne.  It  was  near  sunset 
when  he  returned,  and  I,  who  was  watching  from  the 
stoep,  saw  with  a  shiver  of  fear  that  he  was  alone. 

"  Wife/'  he  said  in  a  hollow  voice,  "  the  child  is  lost. 
We  have  searched  far  and  wide  and  can  find  no  trace  of 
her.  Make  food  ready  to  put  in  my  saddle-bags,  for  should 
we  discover  her  to-night  or  to-morrow,  she  will  be 
starving." 

"  Be  comforted,"  I  said,  "  at  least  she  will  not  starve, 
for  the  cook  girl  tells  me  that  before  Suzanne  set  out  this 
morning  she  begged  of  her  a  bottle  of  milk  and  with  it 
some  biltong  and  meal  cakes  and  put  them  in  her  bag." 

"  It  is  strange,"  he  answered.  "  What  could  the  little 
maid  want  with  these  unless  she  was  minded  to  make  a 
journey?  " 


HOW  SUZANNE  FOUND  RALPH  KENZIE          13 

"  At  times  it  comes  into  the  thoughts  of  children  to  play 
truant,  husband." 

"  Yes,  yes,  that  is  so,  but  pray  God  that  we  may  find  her 
before  the  moon  sets." 

Then  while  I  filled  the  saddle-bags  Jan  swallowed  some 
meat,  and  a  fresh  horse  having  been  brought  he  kissed  me 
and  rode  away  in  the  twilight. 

Oh!  what  hours  were  those  that  followed!  All  night 
long  I  sat  there  on  the  stoep,  though  the  wind  chilled  me 
and  the  dew  wet  my  clothes,  watching  and  praying  as,  I 
think,  I  never  prayed  before.  This  I  knew  well — that  our 
Suzanne,  our  only  child,  the  light  and  joy  of  our  home, 
was  in  danger  so  great  that  the  Lord  alone  could  save  her. 
The  country  where  we  lived  was  lonely,  savages  still  roamed 
about  it  who  hated  the  white  man,  and  might  steal  or  kill 
her;  also  it  was  full  of  leopards,  hyenas,  and  other  beasts 
of  prey  which  would  devour  her.  Worst  of  all,  the  tides 
on  the  coast  were  swift  and  treacherous,  and  it  well  might 
happen  that  if  she  was  wandering  amongst  the  great  rocks 
the  sea  would  come  in  and  drown  her.  Indeed,  again  and 
again  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  could  hear  her  death-cry  in 
the  sob  of  the  wind. 

At  length  the  dawn  broke,  and  with  it  came  Jan.  One 
glance  at  his  face  was  enough  for  me.  "  She  is  not  dead?  " 
I  gasped. 

"  I  know  not,"  he  answered,  "  we  have  found  nothing 
of  her.  Give  me  brandy  and  another  horse,  for  the  sun 
rises,  and  I  return  to  the  search.  The  tide  is  down,  per- 
haps we  shall  discover  her  among  the  rocks,"  and  he 
groaned  and  entered  the  house  with  me. 

"  Kneel  down  and  let  us  pray,  husband,"  I  said,  and  we 
knelt  down  weeping  and  prayed  aloud  to  our  God  who, 
seated  in  the  Heavens,  yet  sees  and  knows  the  needs  and 


14  SWALLOW 

griefs  of  His  servants  upon  the  earth;  prayed  that  He 
would  pity  our  agony  and  give  us  back  our  only  child. 
Nor,  blessed  be  His  name,  did  \ve  pray  vainly,  for  pres- 
ently, while  we  still  knelt,  we  heard  the.  voice  of  that  girl 
who  had  lost  Suzanne,  and  who  all  night  long  had  lain 
sobbing  in  the  garden  grounds,  calling  to  us  in  wild  ac- 
cents to  come  forth  and  see.  Then  we  rushed  out,  hope 
burning  up  suddenly  in  our  hearts  like  a  fire  in  dry  grass. 

In  front  of  the  house  and  not  more  than  thirty  paces 
from  it,  was  the  crest  of  a  little  wave  of  land  upon  which 
at  this  moment  the  rays  of  the  rising  sun  struck  brightly. 
There,  yes,  there,  full  in  the  glow  of  them,  stood  the  child 
Suzanne,  wet,  disarrayed,  her  hair  hanging  about  her  face, 
but  unharmed  and  smiling,  and  leaning  on  her  shoulder 
another  child,  a  white  boy,  somewhat  taller  and  older  than 
herself.  With  a  cry  of  joy  we  rushed  towards  her,  and  reach- 
ing her  the  first,  for  my  feet  were  the  swiftest,  I  snatched 
her  to  my  breast  and  kissed  her,  whereon  the  boy  fell 
down,  for  it  seemed  that  his  foot  was  hurt  and  he  could 
not  stand  alone. 

"  In  the  name  of  Heaven,  what  is  the  meaning  of  this  ?  " 
gasped  Jan. 

"What  should  it  mean,"  answered  the  little  maid 
proudly,  "  save  that  I  went  to  look  for  the  brother  whom 
you  said  I  might  find  by  the  sea  if  I  searched  hard  enough, 
and  I  found  him,  though  I  do  not  understand  his  words 
or  he  mine.  Come,  brother,  let  me  help  you  up,  for  this 
is  our  home,  and  here  are  our  father  and  mother." 

Then,  filled  with  wonder,  we  carried  the  children  into 
the  house,  and  took  their  wet  clothes  off  them.  It  was  I 
Avho  undressed  the  boy,  and  noted  that  though  his  gar- 
ments were  in  rags  and  foul,  yet  they  were  of  a  finer  stuff 
than  any  that  I  had  seen,  and  that  his  linen,  which  was 


HOW  SUZANNE  FOUND  RALPH  KENZIE         15 

soft  as  silk,  was  marked  with  the  letters  E.  M.  Also  I 
noted  other  things:  namely,,  that  so  swollen  were  his  little 
feet  that  the  boots  must  be  cut  off  them,  and  that  he  was 
well-nigh  dead  of  starvation,  for  his  bones  almost  pierced 
his  milk-white  skin. 

AVell,  we  cleaned  him,  and  having  wrapped  him  in 
blankets  and  soft-tanned  hides,  I  fed  him  with  broth  a 
spoonful  at  a  time,  for  had  I  let  him  eat  all  he  would,  he 
was  so  famished  that  I  feared  lest  he  should  kill  himself. 
After  he  was  somewhat  satisfied,  sad  memories  seemed  to 
come  back  to  him,  for  he  cried  and  spoke  in  English,  re- 
peating the  word  "  Mother,"  which  I  knew,  again  and 
again,  till  presently  he  dropped  off  to  sleep,  and  for  many 
hours  slept  without  waking.  Then,  little  by  little,  I  drew 
all  the  tale  from  Suzanne. 

It  would  seem  that  the  child,  who  was  very  venturesome 
and  full  of  imaginings,  had  dreamed  a  dream  in  her  bed 
on  the  night  of  the  day  Avhen  she  played  with  the  gun  and 
Jan  and  I  had  spoken  together  of  the  sea.  'She  dreamed 
that  in  a  certain  kloof,  an  hour's  ride  and  more  away  from 
the  stead,  she  heard  the  voice  of  a  child  praying,  and  that 
although  he  prayed  in  a  tongue  unknown  to.  her,  she  under- 
stood the  words,  which  were:  "  0  Father,  my  mother  is 
dead,  send  someone  to  help  me,  for  I  am  starving."  More- 
over, looking  round  her  in  her  dream,  though  she  could 
not  see  the  child  from  whom  the  voice  came,  yet  she 
knew  the  kloof,  for  as  it  chanced  she  had  been  there  twice, 
once  with  me  to  gather  white  lilies  for  the  burial  of  a 
neighbour  Avho  had  died,  and  once  with  her  father,  who 
was  searching  for  a  lost  ox.  XoV  Suzanne,  having  lived 
so  much  with  her  ciders,  was  very  quick,  and  she  was  sure 
when  she  woke  in  the  morning  that  if  she  said  anything 
about  her  dream  we  should  laugh  at  her  and  should  not 


10  SWALLOW 

allow  her  to  go  to  the  place  of  which  she  had  dreamt. 
Therefore  it  was  that  she  made  the  plan  of  seeking  for  the 
shells  upon  the  seashore,  and  of  slipping  away  from  the 
woman  who  was  with  her,  and  therefore  also  she  begged 
the  milk  and  the  "biltong. 

Now  before  I  go  further  I  would  ask,  What  was  this 
dream  of  Suzanne's?  Did  she  invent  it  after  the  things 
to  which  it  pointed  had  come  to  pass,  or  was  it  verily  a 
vision  sent  by  God  to  the  pure  heart  of  a  little  child,  as 
aforetime  He  sent  a  vision  to  the  heart  of  the  infant 
Samuel  ?  Let  each  solve  the  riddle  as  he  will,  only,  if  it  were 
nothing  but  an  imagination,  why  did  she  take  the  milk  and 
food?  Because  we  had  been  talking  on  that  evening  of 
her  finding  a  brother  by  the  sea,  you  may  answer.  Well, 
perhaps  so;  let  each  solve  the  riddle  as  he  will. 

When  Suzanne  escaped  from  her  nurse  she  struck  in- 
land, and  thus  it  happened  that  her  feet  left  no  spoor  upon 
the  hard,  dry  veldt.  Soon  she  found  that  the  kloof  she 
sought  was  further  off  than  she  thought  for,  or,  perhaps, 
she  lost  her  way  to  it,  for  the  hillsides  are  scarred  with 
such  kloofs,  and  it  might  well  chance  that  a  child  would 
mistake  one  for  the  other.  Still  she  went  on,  though  she 
grew  frightened  in  the  lonely  wilderness,  where  great 
bucks  sprang  up  at  her  feet  and  baboons  barked  at  her  as 
they  clambered  from  rock  to  rock.  On  she  went,  stopping 
only  once  or  twice  to  drink  a  little  of  the  milk  and  eat 
some  food,  till,  towards  sunset,  she  found  the  kloof  of 
which  she  had  dreamed.  For  a  while  she  wandered  about 
in  it,  following  the  banks  of  a  stream,  till  at  length,  as  she 
passed  a  dense  clump  of  mimosa  bushes,  she  heard  the 
faint  sound  of  a  child's  voice — the  very  voice  of  her  dream. 
Now  she  stopped,  and  turning  to  the  right,  pushed  her  way 
through  the  mimosas,  and  there  beyond  them  was  a  dell, 


HOW  SUZANNE  FOUND  UALPI1  KENZIE         1? 

and  in  the  centre  of  the  dell  a  large  flat  rock,  and  on  the 
rock  a  boy  praying,  the  rays  of  the  setting  sun  shining  in 
his  golden,  tangled  hair.  She  went  to  the  child  and  spoke 
to  him,  but  he  could  not  understand  our  tongue,  nor  could 
she  understand  his.  Then  she  drew  out  what  was  left  of 
the  bottle  of  milk  and  some  meal  cakes  and  gave  them  to 
him,  and  he  ate  and  drank  greedily. 

By  this  time  the  sun  was  down,  and  as  they  did  not  dare 
to  move  in  the  dark,  the  children  sat  together  on  the  rock, 
clasped  in  each  other's  arms  for  warmth,  and  as  they  sat 
they  saw  yellow  eyes  staring  at  them  through  the  gloom, 
and  heard  strange  snoring  sounds,  and  were  afraid.  At 
length  the  moon  rose,  and  in  its  first  rays  they  perceived 
standing  and  walking  within  a  few  paces  of  them  three 
tigers,  as  we  call  leopards,  two  of  them  big  and  one  half- 
grown.  But  the  tigers  did  them  no  harm,  for  God  forbade 
them;  they  only  looked  at  them  a  little  and  then  slipped 
away,  purring  as  they  went. 

Now  Suzanne  rose,  and  taking  the  boy  by  the  hand  she 
began  to  lead  him  homeward,  very  slowly,  since  he  was 
footsore  and  exhausted,  and  for  the  last  half  of  the  way 
could  only  walk  resting  upon  her  shoulder.  Still  through 
the  long  night  they  crawled  forward,  for  the  kopje  at  the 
back  of  our  stead  was  a  guide  to  Suzanne,  stopping  from 
time  to  time  to  rest  a  while,  till  at  the  breaking  of  the 
dawn  with  their  last  strength  they  came  to  the  house,  as 
has  been  told. 

Well  it  was  that  they  did  so,  for  it  seems  that  the  search- 
ers had  already  sought  them  in  the  very  kloof  where  they 
were  hidden,  without  seeing  anything  of  them  behind  the 
thick  screen  of  the  mimosas,  and  having  once  sought 
doubtless  they  would  have  returned  there  no  more,  for  the 
hills  are  wide  and  the  kloofs  in  them  many. 
3 


CHAPTEE    III 

THE    STORY    OF   THE    SHIPWRECK 

"  WHAT  shall  we  do  with,  this  boy  whom  Suzanne  has 
brought  to  us,  wife  ?  "  asked  Jan  of  me  that  day  while 
both  the  children  lay  asleep. 

"  Do  with  him,  husband!  "  I  answered;  "  we  shall  keep 
him;  he  is  the  Lord's  gift." 

"  He  is  English,  and  I  hate  the  English,"  said  Jan,  look- 
ing down. 

"  English  or  Dutch,  husband,  he  is  of  noble  blood,  and 
the  Lord's  gift,  and  to  turn  him  away  would  be  to  turn 
away  our  luck." 

"  But  how  if  his  people  come  to  seek  him?  " 

"  When  they  come  we  will  talk  of  it,  but  I  do  not  think 
that  they  will  come;  I  think  that  the  sea  has  swallowed 
them  all." 

After  that  Jan  said  no  more  of  this  matter  for  many 
years;  indeed  I  believe  that  from  the  first  he  desired  to 
keep  the  child,  he  who  was  sonless. 

Now  while  the  boy  lay  asleep  Jan  mounted  his  horse  and 
rode  for  two  hours  to  the  stead  of  our  neighbour,  the  Heer 
van  Vooren.  This  Van  Vooren  was  a  very  rich  man,  by 
far  the  richest  of  us  outlying  Boers,  and  he  had  come  to 
live  in  these  wilds  because  of  some  bad  act  that  he  had 
done;  I  think  that  it  was  the  shooting  of  a  coloured  person 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  SHIPWRECK  19 

when  he  was  angry.  He  was  a  strange  man  and  much 
feared,  sullen  in  countenance,  and  silent  by  nature.  It 
was  said  that  his  grandmother  was  a  chieftainess  among 
the  red  Kaffirs,  but  if  so,  the  blood  showed  more  in  his 
son  and  only  child  than  in  himself.  Of  this  son,  who  in 
after  years  was  named  Swart  Piet,  and  his  evil  doings  I 
shall  have  to  tell  later  in  my  story,  but  even  then  his  dark 
face  and  savage  temper  had  earned  for  him  the  name  of 
"  the  little  Kaffir." 

Now  the  wife  of  the  Heer  van  Vooren  was  dead,  and  he 
had  a  tutor  for  his  boy  Piet,  a  poor  Hollander  body  who 
could  speak  English.  That  man  knew  figures  also,  for  once 
when,  thinking  that  I  should  be  too  clever  for  him,  I  asked 
him  how  often  the  wheel  of  our  big  waggon  would  turn 
round  travelling  between  our  farm  and  Capetown  Castle, 
he  took  a  rule  and  measured  the  wheel,  then  having  set 
down  some  figures  on  a  bit  of  paper,  and  worked  at  them 
for  a  while,  he  told  me  the  answer.  Whether  it  was  right 
or  wrong  I  did  not  know,  and  said  so,  whereon  the  poor 
creature  grew  angry,  and  lied  in  his  anger,  for  he  swore 
that  he  could  tell  me  how  often  the  wheel  would  turn  in 
travelling  from  the  earth  to  the  sun  or  moon,  and  also 
how  far  we  were  from  those  great  lamps,  a  thing  that  is 
known  to  God  only,  Who  made  them  for  our  comfort.  It 
is  little  wonder,  therefore,  that  with  such  unholy  teaching 
Swart  Piet  grew  up  so  bad. 

Well,  Jan  went  to  beg  the  loan  of  this  tutor,  thinking 
that  he  would  be  able  to  understand  what  the  English  boy 
said,  and  in  due  course  the  creature  came  in  a  pair  of  blue 
spectacles  and  riding  on  a  mule,  for  he  dared  not  trust 
himself  to  a  horse.  Afterwards,  when  the  child  woke  up 
from  his  long  sleep,  and  had  been  fed  and  dressed,  the 
tutor  spoke  with  him  in  that  ugly  English  tongue  of  which 


20  SWALLOW 

I  could  never  even  bear  the  sound,  and  this  was  the  story 
that  he  drew  from  him. 

It  seems  that  the  boy,  who  gave  his  name  as  Ralph 
Kenzie,  though  I  believe  that  really  it  was  Ralph  Macken- 
zie,, was  travelling  with  his  father  and  mother  and  many 
others  from  a  country  called  India,  which  is  one  of  those 
places  that  the  English  have  stolen  in  different  parts  of 
the  world,  as  they  stole  the  Cape  and  Natal  and  all  the 
rest.  They  travelled  for  a  long  while  in  a  big  ship,  for 
India  is  a  great  way  off,  till,  when  they  were  near  this 
coast,  a  storm  sprang  up,  and  after  the  wind  had  blown 
for  two  days  they  were  driven  on  rocks  a  hundred  miles  or 
more  away  from  our  stead.  So  fierce  was  the  sea  and  so 
quickly  did  the  ship  break  to  pieces  that  only  one  boat 
was  got  out,  which,  except  for  a  crew  of  six  men,  was  filled 
with  women  and  children.  In  this  boat  the  boy  Ralph 
and  his  mother  were  given  a  place,  but  his  father  did  not 
come,  although  the  captain  begged  him,  for  he  was  a  man 
of  importance,  whose  life  was  of  more  value  than  those  of 
common  people.  But  he  refused,  for  he  said  that  he 
would  stop  and  share  the  fate  of  the  other  men,  which 
shows  that  this  English  lord,  for  I  think  he  was  a  lord, 
had  a  high  spirit.  So  he  kissed  his  wife  and  child  and 
blessed  them,  and  the  boat  was  lowered  to  the  sea,  but 
before  another  could  be  got  ready  the  great  ship  slipped 
back  from  the  rock  upon  which  she  hung  and  sank  (for 
this  we  heard  afterwards  from  some  Kaffirs  who  saw  it), 
and  all  aboard  of  her  were  drowned.  May  God  have  mercy 
upon  them! 

When  it  was  near  to  the  shore  the  boat  was  overturned, 
and  some  of  those  in  it  were  drowned,  but  Ralph  and  his 
mother  were  cast  safely  on  the  beach,  and  with  them 
others.  Then  one  of  the  men  looked  at  a  compass  and 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  SHIPWRECK  21 

they  began  to  walk  southwards,,  hoping  doubtless  to  reach 
country  where  white  people  lived.  All  that  befell  after- 
wards I  cannot  tell,  for  the  poor  child  was  too  frightened 
and  bewildered  to  remember,  but  it  seems  that  the  men 
were  killed  in  a  fight  with  natives,  who,  however,  did  not 
touch  the  women  and  children.  After  that  the  women 
and  the  little  ones  died  one  by  one  of  hunger  and  weari- 
ness, or  were  taken  by  wild  beasts,  till  at  last  none  were 
left  save  Ralph  and  his  mother.  When  they  were  alone 
they  met  a  Kaffir  woman,  who  gave  them  as  much  food 
as  they  could  carry,  and  by  the  help  of  this  food  they 
struggled  on  southward  for  another  five  or  six  days, 
till  at  length  one  morning,  after  their  food  was  done, 
Ralph  woke  to  find  his  mother  cold  and  dead  beside 
him. 

When  he  was  sure  that  she  was  dead  he  was  much  fright- 
ened, and  ran  away  as  fast  as  he  could.  All  that  day  he 
staggered  forward,  till  in  the  evening  he  came  to  the  kloof, 
and  being  quite  exhausted,  knelt  upon  the  flat  stone  to 
pray,  as  he  had  been  taught  to  do,  and  there  Suzanne 
found  him.  Such  was  the  story,  and  so  piteous  it  seemed 
to  us  that  we  wept  as  we  listened,  yes,  even  Jan  wept,  and 
the  tutor  snivelled  and  wiped  his  weak  eyes. 

That  it  was  true  in  the  main  we  learned  afterwards 
from  the  Kaffirs,  a  bit  here  and  a  bit  ilicre.  Indeed,  one 
of  our  own  people,  while  searching  for  Suzanne,  found  the 
body  of  Ralph's  mother  and  buried  it.  He  said  that  she 
was  a  tall  and  noble-looking  lady,  not  much  more  than 
thirty  years  of  age.  We  did  not  dig  her  up  again  to 
look  at  her,  as  perhaps  we  should  have  done,  for  the  Kaffir 
declared  that  she  had  nothing  on  her  except  some  rags 
and  two  rings,  a  plain  gold  one  and  another  of  emeralds, 
with  a  device  carved  upon  it,  and  in  the  pocket  of  her 


22  SWALLOW 

gown  a  little  book  bound  in  red,  that  proved  to  be  a  Testa- 
ment, on  the  fly  leaf  of  which  was  written  in  English, 
"  Flora  Gordon,  the  gift  of  her  mother,  Agnes  Janey 
Gordon,  on  her  confirmation,"  and  with  it  a  date. 

All  these  things  the  Kaffir  brought  home  faithfully,  also 
a  lock  of  the  lady's  fair  hair,  which  he  had  cut  off  with 
his  assegai.  That  lock  of  hair  labelled  in  writing — remem- 
ber it,  Suzanne,  when  I  am  gone — is  in  the  waggon  box 
which  stands  beneath  my  bed.  The  other  articles  Suzanne 
here  has,  as  is  her  right,  for  her  grandfather  settled  them 
on  her  by  will,  and  with  them  one  thing  which  I  forgot  to 
mention.  When  we  undressed  the  boy  Ealph,  we  found 
hanging  by  a  gold  chain  to  his  neck,  where  he  said  his 
mother  placed  it  the  night  before  she  died,  a  large  locket, 
also  of  gold.  This  locket  contained  three  little  pictures 
painted  on  ivory,  one  in  each  half  of  it  and  one  with  a 
plain  gold  back  on  a  hinge  between  them.  That  to  the 
right  was  of  a  handsome  man  in  uniform,  who,  Ealph  told 
me,  was  his  father  (and  indeed  he  left  all  this  in  writing, 
together  with  his  will);  that  to  the  left,  of  a  lovely  lady 
in  a  low  dress,  who,  he  said,  was  his  mother;  that  in  the 
middle  a  portrait  of  the  boy  himself,  as  anyone  could  see, 
which  must  have  been  painted  not  more  than  a  year  before 
we  found  him.  This  locket  and  the  pictures  my  great- 
granddaughter  Suzanne  has  also. 

Now,  as  I  have  said,  we  let  that  unhappy  lady  lie  in 
her  rude  grave  yonder  by  the  sea,  but  my  husband  took 
men  and  built  a  cairn  of  stones  over  it  and  a  strong  wall 
about  it,  and  there  it  stands  to  this  day,  for  not  long  ago 
I  met  one  of  the  folk  from  the  Old  Colony  who  had  seen 
it,  and  who  told  me  that  the  people  that  live  in  those  parts 
now  reverence  the  spot,  knowing  its  story.  Also,  when 
some  months  afterwards  a  minister  came  to  visit  us?  WQ 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  SHIPWRECK  23 

led  him  to  the  place  and  he  read  the  Burial  Service  over 
the  lady's  bones,  so  that  she  did  not  lack  for  Christian 
burial. 

Well,  this  wreck  made  a  great  stir,  for  many  were 
drowned  in  it,  and  the  English  Government  sent  a  ship 
of  war  to  visit  the  place  where  it  happened,  but  none 
came  to  ask  us  what  we  knew  of  the  matter;  indeed,  we 
never  learned  that  the  frigate  had  been  till  she  was  gone 
again.  So  it  came  about  that  the  story  died  away,  as  such 
stories  do  in  this  sad  world,  and  for  many  years  we  heard 
no  more  of  it. 

For  a  while  the  boy  Ralph  was  like  a  haunted  child.  At 
night,  and  now  and  again  even  in  the  daytime,  he  would 
be  seized  with  terror,  and  sob  and  cry  in  a  way  that  was 
piteous  to  behold,  though  not  to  be  wondered  at  by  any 
who  knew  his  history.  When  these  fits  took  him,  strange 
as  it  may  seem,  there  was  but  one  who  could  calm  his 
heart,  and  that  one  Suzanne.  I  can  see  them  now  as  I 
have  seen  them  thrice  that  I  remember,  the  boy  sitting  up 
in  his  bed,  a  stare  of  agony  in  his  eyes,  and  the  sweat  run- 
ning down  his  face,  damping  his  yellow  hair,  and  talking 
rapidly,  half  in  English,  half  in  Dutch,  with  a  voice  that 
at  times  would  rise  to  a  scream,  and  at  times  would  sink 
to  a  whisper,  of  the  shipwreck,  of  his  lost  parents,  of  the 
black  Indian  woman  who  nursed  him,  of  the  wilderness, 
the  tigers,  and  the  Kaffirs  who  fell  on  them,  and  many 
other  things.  By  him  sits  Suzanne,  a  soft  kaross  of  jackal 
skins  wrapped  over  her  nightgown,  the  dew  of  sleep  still 
showing  upon  her  childish  face  and  in  her  large  dark  eyes. 
By  him  she  sits,  talking  in  some  words  which  for  us  have 
little  meaning,  and  in  a  voice  now  shrill,  and  now  sinking 
to  a  croon,  while  with  one  hand  she  clasps  his  wrist,  and 
with  the  other  strokes  his  brow,  till  the  shadow  passes 


24  SWALLOW 

from  his  soul  and,  clinging  close  to  her,  he  sinks  back  to 
sleep. 

But  as  the  years  went  by  these  fits  grew  rarer  till  at  last 
they  ceased  altogether,  since,  thanks  be  to  God,  childhood 
can  forget  its  grief.  What  did  not  cease,  however,  was 
the  lad's  love  for  Suzanne,  or  her  love  for  him,  which,  if 
possible,  was  yet  deeper.  Brother  may  love  sister,  but  that 
affection,  however  true,  yet  lacks  something,  since  nature 
teaches  that  it  can  never  be  complete.  But  from  the  be- 
ginning— yes,  even  while  they  were  children — these  twain 
were  brother  and  sister,  friend  and  friend,  lover  and  lover; 
and  so  they  remained  till  life  left  them,  and  so  they  will 
remain  for  aye  in  whatever  life  they  live.  Their  thought 
was  one  thought,  their  heart  was  one  heart;  in  them  was 
neither  variableness  nor  shadow  of  turning;  they  were  each 
of  each,  to  each  and  for  each,  as  one  soul  in  their  separate 
spirits,  as  one  flesh  in  their  separate  bodies.  I  who  write 
this  am  a  very  old  woman,  and  though  in  many  things  I 
am  most  ignorant,  I  have  seen  much  of  the  world  and  of 
the  men  who  live  in  it,  yet  I  say  that  never  have  I  known 
any  marvel  to  compare  with  the  marvel  and  the  beauty  of 
the  love  between  Ealph  Kenzie,  the  castaway,  and  my 
sweet  daughter,  Suzanne.  It  was  of  heaven,  not  of  earth; 
or,  rather,  like  everything  that  is  perfect,  it  partook  both 
of  earth  and  heaven.  Yes,  yes,  it  wandered  up  the  moun- 
tain paths  of  earth  to  the  pure  heights  of  heaven,  where 
now  it  dwells  for  ever. 

The  boy  Ealph  grew  up  fair  and  brave  and  strong,  with 
keen  grey  eyes  and  a  steady  mouth,  nor  did  I  know  any 
lad  of  his  years  who  could  equal  him  in  strength  and  swift- 
ness of  foot;  for,  though  in  youth  he  was  not  over  tall,  he 
was  broad  in  the  breast  and  had  muscles  that  never  seemed 
to  tire,  Now;  we  Boers  think  little  of  book  learning,  hold- 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  SHIPWRECK  25 

ing,  as  we  do,  that  if  a  man  can  read  the  Holy  Word  it  is 
enough.  Still  Jan  and  I  thought  as  Ealph  was  not  of  our 
blood,  though  otherwise  in  all  ways  a  son  to  us,  that  it 
was  our  duty  to  educate  him  as  much  in  the  fashion  of  his 
own  people  as  our  circumstances  would  allow.  Therefore, 
after  he  had  been  with  us  some  two  years,  when  one  day 
the  Hollander  tutor  man,  with  the  blue  spectacles,  of 
whom  I  have  spoken,  rode  up  to  our  house  upon  his  mule, 
telling  us  that  he  had  fled  from  the  Van  Voorens  because 
he  could  no  longer  bear  to  witness  the  things  that  were 
practised  at  their  stead,  we  engaged  him  to  teach  Ralph 
and  Srfeanne.  He  remained  with  us  six  years,  by  which 
time  both  the  children  had  got  much  learning  from  him; 
though  how  much  it  is  not  for  me,  who  have  none,  to 
judge.  They  learnt  history  and  reading  and  writing,  and 
something  of  the  English  tongue,  but  I  need  scarcely  say 
that  I  would  not  suffer  him  to  teach  them  to  pry  into  the 
mystery  of  God's  stars,  as  he  wished  to  do,  for  I  hold  that 
such  lore  is  impious  and  akin  to  witchcraft  of  which  I  have 
seen  enough  from  Sihamba  and  others. 

I  asked  this  Hollander  more  particularly  why  he  had  fled 
from  the  Van  Voorens,  but  he  would  tell  me  little  more 
than  that  it  was  because  of  the  wizardries  practised  there. 
If  I  might  believe  him,  the  Hecr  Van  Vooren  made  a  cus- 
tom of  entertaining  Kaffir  witch  doctors  and  doctresses  at 
his  house,  and  of  celebrating  with  them  secret  and  devilish 
rites,  to  which  his  son,  Swart  Piet,  was  initiated  in  his 
presence.  That  this  last  story  was  true  I  have  no  doubt 
indeed,  seeing  that  the  events  of  after  years  prove  it  to 
have  been  so. 

Well,  at  last  the  Hollander  left  us  to  marry  a  rich  old 
vrouw  twenty  years  his  senior,  and  that  is  all  I  have  to  say 
about  him,  except  that  if  possible  I  disliked  him  more 


26  SWALLOW 

when  he  walked  out  of  the  house  than  when  he  walked 
into  it;  though  why  I  should  have  done  so  I  do  not  know, 
for  he  was  a  harmless  body.  Perhaps  it  was  because  he 
played  the  flute,  which  I  have  always  thought  contemptible 
in  a  man. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  SHADOW  OF  THE  ENGLISHMEN 

Now  I  will  pass  on  to  the  time  when  Ralph  was  nineteen 
or  thereabouts,  and  save  for  the  lack  of  hair  upon  his  face, 
a  man  grown,  since  in  our  climate  young  people  ripen 
quickly  in  body  if  not  in  mind.  I  tell  of  that  year  with 
shame  and  sorrow,  for  it  was  then  that  Jan  and  I  com- 
mitted a  great  sin,  for  which  afterwards  we  were  punished 
heavily  enough. 

At  the  beginning  of  winter  Jan  trekked  to  the  nearest 
drop,  some  fifty  miles  away,  with  a  waggon  load  of  mealies 
and  of  buckskins  which  he  and  Ralph  had  shot,  purposing 
to  sell  them  and  to  attend  the  Nachtmahl,  or  Feast  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.  I  was  somewhat  ailing  just  then  and  did 
not  accompany  him,  nor  did  Suzanne,  who  stayed  to  nurse 
me,  or  Ralph,  who  was  left  to  look  after  us  both. 

Fourteen  days  later  Jan  returned,  and  from  his  face  I 
saw  at  once  that  something  had  gone  wrong. 

"  What  is  it,  husband?  "  I  asked.  "  Did  not  the  mealies 
sell  well?" 

"  Yes,  yes,  they  sold  well,"  he  answered,  "  for  that  fool 
of  an  English  storekeeper  bought  them  and  the  hides  to- 
gether for  more  than  their  value." 

"  Are  the  Kaffirs  going  to  rise  again,  then?  " 

"  No,  they  are  quiet  for  the  present,,  though  the  accursed 


28  SWALLOW 

missionaries  of  the  London  Society  are  doing  their  best  to 
stir  them  up,"  and  he  made  a  sign  to  me  to  cease  from 
asking  questions,  nor  did  I  say  any  more  till  we  had  gone 
to  bed  and  everybody  else  in  the  house  was  asleep. 

"  Now/'  I  said,  "  tell  me  your  bad  news,  for  bad  news 
you  have  had." 

"Wife/'  he  answered.,  "it  is  this.  In  the  dorp  yonder 
I  met  a  man  who  had  come  from  Port  Elizabeth.  He  told 
me  that  there  at  the  port  were  two  Englishmen,  who  had 
recently  arrived,  a  Scotch  lord,  and  a  lawyer  with  red  hair. 
When  the  Englishmen  heard  that  he  was  from  this  part 
of  the  country  they  fell  into  talk  with  him,  saying  that 
they  came  upon  a  strange  errand.  It  seems  that  when  the 
great  ship  was  wrecked  upon  this  coast  ten  years  ago  there 
was  lost  in  her  a  certain  little  boy  who,  if  he  had  lived, 
would  to-day  have  been  a  very  rich  noble  in  Scotland.  Wife, 
you  may  know  who  that  little  boy  was  without  my  telling 
you  his  name." 

I  nodded  and  turned  cold  all  over  my  body,  for  I  could 
guess  what  was  coming. 

"  Now  for  a  long  while  those  who  were  interested  in  him 
supposed  that  this  lad  was  certainly  dead  with  all  the 
others  on  board  that  ship,  but  a  year  or  more  ago,  how  I 
know  not,  a  rumour  reached  them  that  one  male  child 
who  answered  to  his  description  had  been  saved  alive  and 
adopted  by  some  Boers  living  in  the  Transkei.  By  this 
time  the  property  and  the  title  that  should  be  his  had 
descended  to  a  cousin  of  the  child's,  but  this  relation  being 
a  just  man  determined  before  he  took  them  to  come  to 
Africa  and  find  out  the  truth  for  himself,  and  there  he  is 
at  Port  Elizabeth,  or  rather  by  this  time  he  is  on  his  road 
to  our  place.  Therefore  it  would  seem  that  the  day  is  at 
b.and  when  we  shall  see  the  last  of  Ealph." 


THE  SHADOW  OF  THE  ENGLISHMEN  20 

"  Never! "  I  said,  "  he  is  a  son  to  us  and  more  than  a 
son,  and  I  will  not  give  him  up." 

"  Then  they  will  take  him,  wife.  Yes,  even  if  he  does 
not  wish  it,  for  he  is  a  minor  and  they  are  armed  with 
authority/' 

"Oh!"  I  cried,  "it  would  break  my  heart,  and,  Jan, 
there  is  another  heart  that  would  break  also,"  and  I 
pointed  towards  the  chamber  where  Suzanne  slept. 

He  nodded,  for  none  could  live  with  them  and  not  know 
that  this  youth  and  maiden  loved  each  other  dearly. 

"  It  would  break  your  heart,"  he  answered,  "  and  her 
heart;  yes,  and  my  own  would  be  none  the  better  for  the 
wrench;  yet  how  can  we  turn  this  evil  from  our  door?  " 

"  Jan,"  I  said,  "  the  winter  is  at  hand;  it  is  time  that 
you  and  Ralph,  should  take  the  cattle  to  the  bush-veldt 
yonder,  where  they  will  lie  warm  and  grow  fat,  for  so  large 
a  herd  cannot  be  trusted  to  the  Kaffirs.  Had  you  not 
better  start  to-morrow?  If  these  English  meddlers  should 
come  here  I  will  talk  with  them.  Did  Suzanne  save  the 
boy  for  them?  Did  we  rear  him  for  them,  although  he 
was  English  ?  Think  how  you  will  feel  when  he  has 
crossed  the  ridge  yonder  for  the  last  time,  you  Avho  are 
sonless,  and  you  must  go  about  your  tasks  alone,  must  ride 
alone  and  hunt  alone,  and,  if  need  be,  fight  alone,  except 
for  his  memory.  Think,  Jan,  think." 

"  Do  not  tempt  me,  woman,"  he  whispered  back  in  a 
hoarse  voice,  for  Ralph  and  he  were  more  to  each  other 
than  any  father  and  son  that  I  have  known,  since  they 
were  also  the  dearest  of  friends.  "'  Do  not  tempt  me,"  he 
went  on;  "  the  lad  himself  must  be  told  of  this,  and  he 
must  judge;  he  is  young,  but  among  us  at  nineteen  a  youth 
is  a  burgher  grown,  with  a  right  to  take  up  land  and 
marry.  He  must  be  told,  I  say,  and  at  once." 


30  SWALLOW 

"  It  is  good/'  I  said,  "  let  him  judge; "  but  in  the 
wickedness  of  my  heart  I  made  up  my  mind  that  I  would 
find  means  to  help  his  judgment,  for  the  thought  of  losing 
him  filled  me  with  blind  terror,  and  all  that  night  I  lay 
awake  thinking  out  the  matter. 

Early  in  the  morning  I  rose  and  went  on  to  the  stoep, 
where  I  found  Suzanne  drinking  coffee  and  singing  a  little 
song  that  Ralph  had  taught  her.  I  can  see  her  now  as  she 
stood  in  her  pretty  tight-fitting  dress,  a  flower  wet  with  dew 
in  her  girdle,  swinging  her  Tcapje  by  its  strings  while  the 
first  rays  of  the  sun  glistened  on  the  waves  of  her  brown 
and  silk-like  hair.  She  was  near  eighteen  then,  and  so 
beautiful  that  my  heart  beat  with  pride  at  her  loveliness, 
for  never  in  my  long  life  have  I  seen  a  girl  of  any  nation 
who  could  compare  with  my  daughter  Suzanne  in  looks. 
Many  women  are  sweet  to  behold  in  this  way  or  in  that; 
but  Suzanne  was  beautiful  every  way,  yes,  and  at  all  ages 
of  her  life;  as  a  child,  as  a  maiden,  as  a  matron  and  as  a 
woman  drawing  near  to  eld,  she  was  always  beautiful  if, 
like  that  of  the  different  seasons,  her  beauty  varied.  In 
shape  she  was  straight  and  tall  and  rounded,  light-footed 
as  a  buck,  delicate  in  limb,  wide-breasted  and  slender- 
necked.  Her  face  was  rich  in  hue  as  a  kloof  lily,  and  her 
eyes — ah!  no  antelope  ever  had  eyes  darker,  tenderer,  or 
more  appealing  than  were  the  eyes  of  Suzanne.  Moreover, 
she  was  sweet  of  nature,  ready  of  wit  and  good-hearted — 
yes,  even  for  the  Kaffirs  she  had  a  smile. 

"  You  are  up  betimes,  Suzanne/'  I  said  when  I  had 
looked  at  her  a  little. 

"  Yes,  mother;  I  rose  to  make  Ralph  his  coffee,  he  does 
not  like  that  the  Kaffir  women  should  boil  it  for  him." 

"  You  mean  that  you  do  not  like  it,"  I  answered,  for  I 
knew  that  Ralph  thought  little  of  who  made  the  coffee 


THE  SHADOW  OF  THE  ENGLISHMEN  31 

that  he  drank,  or  if  he  did  it  was  mine  that  he  held  to  be 
the  best,  and  not  Suzanne's,  who  in  those  days  was  a  care- 
less girl,  thinking  less  of  household  matters  than  she 
should  have  done. 

"Did  Swart  Piet  come  here  yesterday?"  I  asked.  "I 
thought  that  I  saw  his  horse  as  I  walked  back  from  the 
sea." 

"  Yes,  he  came." 

"  What  for?  " 

She  shrugged  her  shoulders.  "  Oh!  mother,  why  do  you 
ask  me?  You  know  well  that  he  is  always  troubling  me, 
bringing  me  presents  of  flowers,  and  asking  me  to  opsit 
with  him  and  what  not." 

"  Then  you  don't  want  to  opsit  with  him?  " 

"  The  candle  would  be  short  that  I  should  burn  with 
Swart  Piet,"  answered  Suzanne,  stamping  her  foot;  "  he 
is  an  evil  man,  full  of  dark  words  and  ways,  and  I  fear 
him,  for  I  think  that  since  his  father's  death  he  has  be- 
come worse,  and  the  most  of  the  company  he  keeps  is  with 
those  Kaffir  witch-doctors." 

"Ah!  like  father,  like  son.  The  mantle  of  Elijah  has 
fallen  upon  Elisha,  but  inside  out.  Well,  it  is  what  I  ex- 
pected, for  sin  and  wizardry  were  born  in  his  blood.  Had 
you  any  words  with  him?  " 

"  Yes,  some.  I  would  not  listen  to  his  sweet  talk,  so  he 
grew  angry  and  began  to  threaten;  but  just  then  Ralph 
came  back  and  he  went  away,  for  he  is  afraid  of  Ralph." 

"Where  has  Ralph  gone  so  early?"  I  asked,  changing 
the  subject. 

"  To  the  far  cattle-kraal  to  look  after  the  oxen  which 
the  Kaffir  bargained  to  break  into  the  yoke.  They  are 
choosing  them  this  morning." 

"  So.     He  makes  a  good  Boer  for  one  of  English  blood, 


32  SWALLOW 

does  he  not?  And  yet  I  suppose  that  when  he  becomes 
English  again  he  will  soon  forget  that  he  ever  was  a  Boer." 

"  When  he  becomes  English  again.,  mother!  What  do 
you  mean  by  that  saying?  "  she  asked  quickly. 

"  I  mean  that  like  will  to  like,  and  blood  to  blood;  also 
that  there  may  be  a  nest  far  away  which  this  bird  that  we 
have  caged  should  fill." 

"  A  nest  far  away,  mother  ?  Then  there  is  one  here 
which  would  be  left  empty;  in  your  heart  and  father's,  I 
mean; "  and  dropping  her  sun-bonnet  she  turned  pale  and 
pressed  her  hands  upon  her  own,  adding,  "  Oh!  speak 
straight  words  to  me.  What  do  you  mean  by  these  hints  ?  " 

"  I  mean,  Suzanne,  that  it  is  not  well  for  any  of  us  to 
let  our  love  wrap  itself  too  closely  about  a  stranger.  Balph 
is  an  Englishman,  not  a  Boer.  He  names  me  mother  and 
your  father,  father;  and  you  he  names  sister,  but  to  us  he 
is  neither  son  nor  brother.  Well,  a  day  may  come  when 
he  learns  to  understand  this,  when  he  learns  to  understand 
also  that  he  has  other  kindred,  true  kindred  far  away  across 
the  sea;  and  if  those  birds  call,  who  will  keep  him  in  the 
strange  nest  ?  " 

"Ah!"  she  echoed,  all  dismayed,  "who  will  keep  him 
then?  " 

"  I  do  not  know,"  I  answered;  "  not  a  foster  father  or 
mother.  But  I  forgot.  Say,  did  he  take  his  rifle  with 
him  to  the  kraal  ?  " 

"  Surely,  I  saw  it  in  his  hand." 

"  Then,  daughter,  if  you  will,  get  on  a  horse,  and  if  you 
can  find  Ealph,  tell  him  that  I  shall  be  very  glad  if  he  can 
shoot  a  small  buck  and  bring  it  back  with  him,  as  I  need 
fresh  meat." 

"May  I  stay  with  him  while  he  shoots  the  buck, mother?" 

' '  Yes,  if  you  are  not  in  his  way  and  do  not  stop  too  long." 


THE  SHADOW  OF  THE  ENGLISHMEN  33 

Then,  without  more  words,  Suzanne  left  me,  and  pres- 
ently I  saw  her  cantering  across  the  veldt  upon  her  grey 
mare  that  Ealph  had  broken  for  her,  and  wondered  if  she 
would  find  him  and  what  luck  he  would  have  with  the  hunt 
that  day. 

Now  it  seems  that  Suzanne  found  Ealph  and  gave  him 
my  message,  and  that  they  started  together  to  look  for 
buck  on  the  strip  of  land  which  lies  between  the  seashore 
and  the  foot  of  the  hills,  where  sometimes  the  blesbok  and 
springbok  used  to  feed  in  thousands.  But  on  this  day 
there  were  none  to  be  seen,  for  the  dry  grass  had  already 
been  burnt  off,  so  that  there  was  nothing  for  them  to  eat. 

"  If  mother  is  to  get  her  meat  to-day,"  said  Ealph  at 
length,  "  I  think  that  we  must  try  the  hill  side  for  a  duiker 
or  a  bush-buck." 

So  they  turned  inland  and  rode  towards  that  very  kloof 
where  years  before  Suzanne  had  discovered  the  ship- 
wrecked boy.  At  the  mouth  of  this  kloof  was  a  patch  of 
marshy  ground,  where  the  reeds  still  stood  thick,  since 
being  full  of  sap  they  had  resisted  the  fire. 

"  That  is  a  good  place  for  a  riet-buck,"  said  Ealph,  "  if 
only  one  could  beat  him  out  of  it,  for  the  reeds  are  too 
tall  to  see  to  shoot  in  them." 

"  It  can  be  managed,"  answered  Suzanne.  "  Do  you  go 
and  stand  in  the  neck  of  the  kloof  while  I  ride  through  the 
reeds  towards  you." 

"  You  might  get  bogged,"  he  said  doubtfully. 

"  No,  no,  brother;  after  all  this  drought  the  pan  is  noth- 
ing more  than  spongy,  and  if  I  should  get  into  a  soft  spot 
I  will  call  out." 

To  this  plan  Ealph  at  length  agreed,  and  having  ridden 
round  the  pan,  which  was  not  more  than  fifty  yards  across, 
he  dismounted  from  his  horse  and  hid  himself  behind  a 
3 


34  SWALLOW 

bush  in  the  neck  of  the  kloof.  Then  Suzanne  rode  in 
among  the  reeds,  shouting  and  singing,  and  beating  them 
with  her  sjambock  in  order  to  disturb  anything  that 
might  be  hidden  there.  Nor  was  her  trouble  in  vain,  for 
suddenly,  with  a  shrill  whistle  of  alarm  by  the  sound  of 
which  this  kind  of  antelope  may  be  known  even  in  the 
dark,  up  sprang  two  riet-buck  and  dashed  away  towards 
the  neck  of  the  kloof,  looking  large  as  donkeys  and  red  as 
lions  as  they  vanished  into  the  thick  cover.  So  close  were 
they  to  Suzanne  that  her  mare  took  fright  and  reared; 
but  the  girl  was  the  best  horsewoman  in  those  parts,  and 
kept  her  seat,  calling  the  while  to  Ealph  to  make  ready  for 
the  buck.  Presently  she  heard  a  shot,  and  having  quieted 
the  mare,  rode  out  of  the  reeds  and  galloped  round  the 
dry  pan  to  find  Ealph  looking  foolish  with  no  riet-buck 
in  sight. 

"  Have  you  missed  them?  "  she  asked. 

"  No,  not  so  bad  as  that,  for  they  passed  within  ten  yards 
of  me,  but  the  old  gun  hung  fire.  I  suppose  that  the 
powder  in  the  pan  was  a  little  damp,  and  instead  of  hitting 
the  buck  in  front  I  caught  him  somewhere  behind.  He 
fell  down,  but  has  gone  on  again,  so  we  must  follow  him, 
for  I  don't  think  that  he  will  get  very  far." 

Accordingly,  when  Ealph  had  reloaded  his  gun,  which 
took  some  time — for  in  those  days  we  had  scarcely  any- 
thing but  flintlocks — yes,  it  was  with  weapons  like  these 
that  a  handful  of  us  beat  the  hosts  of  Dingaan  and  Moseli- 
katse — they  started  to  follow  the  blood  spoor  up  the  kloof, 
which  was  not  difficult,  as  the  animal  had  bled  much. 
Near  to  the  top  of  the  kloof  the  trail  led  them  through  a 
thick  clump  of  mimosas,  and  there  in  the  dell  beyond  they 
found  the  riet-buck  lying  dead.  Eiding  to  it  they  dis- 
mounted and  examined  it. 


THE  SHADOW  OF  THE  ENGLISHMEN  35 

"  Poor  beast/'  said  Suzanne;  "  look  how  the  tears  have 
run  down  its  face.  Well,  I  am  glad  that  it  is  dead  and  done 
with/'  and  she  sighed  and  turned  away,  for  Suzanne  was 
a  silly  and  tender-hearted  girl  who  never  could  understand 
that  the  animals — yes,  and  the  heathen  Kaffirs,  too — were 
given  to  us  by  the  Lord  for  our  use  and  comfort. 

Presently  she  started  and  said,  "  Ralph,  do  you  remem- 
ber this  place? " 

He  glanced  round  and  shook  his  head,  for  he  was  won- 
dering whether  he  would  be  able  to  lift  the  buck  on  to  the 
horse  without  asking  Suzanne  to  help  him. 

"  Look  again,"  she  said;  "  look  at  that  flat  stone  and  the 
mimosa  tree  lying  on  its  side  near  it." 

Ralph  dropped  the  leg  of  the  buck  and  obeyed  her,  for 
he  would  always  do  as  Suzanne  bade  him,  and  this  time  it 
was  his  turn  to  start. 

"  Almighty!  "  he  said,  "  I  remember  now.  It  was  here 
that  you  found  me,  Suzanne,  after  I  was  shipwrecked,  and 
the  tigers  stared  at  us  through  the  boughs  of  that  fallen 
tree,"  and  he  shivered  a  little,  for  the  sight  of  the  spot 
brought  back  to  his  heart  some  of  the  old  terrors  which 
had  haunted  his  childhood. 

"  Yes,  Ralph,  it  was  bere  that  I  found  you.  I  heard 
the  sound  of  your  voice  as  you  knelt  praying  on  this  stone, 
and  I  followed  it.  God  heard  that  prayer,  Ralph." 

"  And  sent  an  angel  to  save  me  in  the  shape  of  a  little 
maid,"  he  answered;  adding,  "  Don't  blush  so  red,  dear,  for 
it  is  true  that  ever  since  that  day,  whenever  I  think  of 
angels,  I  think  of  you;  and  whenever  I  think  of  you  I  think 
of  angels,  which  shows  that  you  and  the  angels  must  be 
close  together." 

"  Which  shows  that  you  are  a  wicked  and  silly  lad  to 
talk  thus  to  a  Boer  girl,"  she  answered,  turning  away  with 


36  SWALLOW 

a  smile  on  her  lips  and  tears  in  her  eyes,  for  his  words  had 
pleased  her  mind  and  touched  her  heart. 

He  looked  at  her,  and  she  seemed  so  sweet  and  beautiful 
as  she  stood  thus,  smiling  and  weeping  together  as  the  sun 
shines  through  summer  rain,  that,  so  he  told  me  after- 
wards, something  stirred  in  his  breast,  something  soft  and 
strong  and  new,  which  caused  him  to  feel  as  though  of  a 
sudden  he  had  left  his  boyhood  behind  him  and  become  a 
man,  aye,  and  as  though  this  fresh-found  manhood  sought 
but  one  thing  more  from  Heaven  to  make  it  perfect,  the 
living  love  of  the  fair  maiden  who  until  this  hour  had 
been  his  sister  in  heart  though  not  in  blood. 

"  Suzanne,"  he  said  in  a  changed  voice,  "  the  horses  are 
tired;  let  them  rest,  and  let  us  sit  upon  this  stone  and 
talk  a  little,  for  though  we  have  never  visited  it  for  many 
years  the  place  is  lucky  for  you  and  me  since  it  was  here 
that  our  lives  first  came  together." 

Now  although  Suzanne  knew  that  the  horses  were  not 
tired  she  did  not  think  it  needful  to  say  him  nay. 


CHAPTER    V 

A    LOVE    SCENE   AND   A    QTJARHEL 

PRESENTLY  they  were  seated  side  by  side  upon  a  stone, 
Suzanne  looking  straight  before  her,  for  nature  warned 
her  that  this  talk  of  theirs  was  not  to  be  as  other  talks, 
and  Ealph  looking  at  Suzanne. 

"  Suzanne,"  he  said  at  length. 

"Yes,"  she  answered;  "what  is  it?"  But  he  made  no 
answer,  for  though  many  words  were  bubbling  in  his 
brain,  they  choked  in  his  throat,  and  would  not  come 
out  of  it. 

"  Suzanne,"  he  stammered  again  presently,  and  again 
she  asked  him  what  it  was,  and  again  he  made  no  answer. 
Now  she  laughed  a  little  and  said: 

"  Ealph,  you  remind  me  of  the  blue-jay  in  the  cage  upon 
the  stoep  which  knows  but  one  word  and  repeats  it  all  day 
long." 

"  Yes,"  he  replied,  "  it  is  true;  I  am  like  that  jay,  for  the 
word  I  taught  it  is  '  Suzanne,'  and  the  word  my  heart 
teaches  me  is  '  Suzanne,'  and — Suzanne,  I  love  you!  " 

Now  she  turned  her  head  away  and  looked  down  and 
answered : 

"I  know,  Ealph.  that  you  have  always  loved  me  since 
we  were  children  together,  for  are  we  not  brother  and 
sister?" 


38  SWALLOW 

"  No,"  he  answered  bluntly,  "  it  is  not  true." 

"  Then  that  is  bad  news  for  me/'  she  said,  "  who  till 
to-day  have  thought  otherwise." 

"  It  is  not  true/'  he  went  on,  and  now  his  words  came 
fast  enough,  "  that  I  am  your  brother  or  that  I  love  you 
as  a  brother.  We  are  no  kin,  and  if  I  love  you  as  a  brother 
that  is  only  one  little  grain  of  my  love  for  you — yes,  only 
as  one  little  grain  is  to  the  whole  sea-shore  of  sand. 
Suzanne,  I  love  you  as — as  a  man  loves  a  maid — and  if 
you  will  it,  dear,  all  my  hope  is  that  one  day  you  will  be 
my  wife,"  and  he  ceased  suddenly  and  stood  before  her 
trembling,  for  he  had  risen  from  the  stone. 

For  a  few  moments  Suzanne  covered  her  face  with  her 
hands,  and  when  she  let  them  fall  again  he  saw  that  her 
beautiful  eyes  shone  like  the  large  stars  at  night,  and  that, 
although  she  was  troubled,  her  trouble  made  her  happy. 

"  Oh!  Ralph,"  she  said  at  length,  speaking  in  a  voice 
that  was  different  from  any  he  had  ever  heard  her  use,  a 
voice  very  rich  and  low  and  full,  "  Oh!  Ealph,  this  is  new 
to  me,  and  yet  to  speak  the  truth,  it  seems  as  old  as — as 
that  night  when  first  I  found  you,  a  desolate,  starving 
child,  praying  upon  this  stone.  Ralph,  I  do  will  it  with 
all  my  heart  and  soul  and  body,  and  I  suppose  that  I  have 
willed  it  ever  since  I  was  a  woman,  though  until  this  hour 
I  did  not  quite  know  what  it  was  I  willed.  Nay,  dear,  do 
not  touch  me,  or  at  the  least,  not  yet.  First  hear  what  I 
have  to  say,  and  then  if  you  desire  it,  you  may  kiss  me — if 
only  in  farewell." 

"  If  you  will  it  and  I  will  it,  what  more  can  you  have  to 
say?  "  he  asked  in  a  quick  Avhisper,  and  looking  at  her 
with  frightened  eyes. 

"This,  Ralph;  that  our  wills,  who  are  young  and  un- 
learned, are  not  all  the  world;  that  there  are  other  wills  to 


A  LOVE  SCENE  AND  A   QUARREL  39 

be  thought  of;  the  wills  of  our  parents,  or  of  mine  rather, 
and  the  will  of  God." 

"  For  the  first,"  he  answered,  "  I  do  not  think  that  they 
stand  in  our  path,  for  they  love  you  and  wish  you  to  be 
happy,  although  it  is  true  that  I,  who  am  but  a  wanderer 
picked  up  upon  the  veldt,  have  no  fortune  to  offer  you — 
still  fortune  can  be  won,"  he  added  doggedly. 

"  They  love  you  also,  Ealph,  nor  do  they  care  over  much 
for  wealth,  either  of  them,  and  I  am  sure  that  they  would 
not  wish  you  to  leave  us  to  go  in  search  of  it." 

"  As  for  the  will  of  God,"  he  continued,  "  it  was  the  will 
of  God  that  I  should  be  wrecked  here,  and  that  you  should 
save  me  here,  and  that  the  life  you  saved  should  be  given 
to  you.  Will  it  not,  therefore,  be  the  will  of  God  also  that 
we,  who  can  never  be  happy  apart,  should  be  happy  to- 
gether and  thank  Him  for  our  happiness  every  day  till  we 
die?" 

"  I  trust  so,  Ealph;  yet  although  I  have  read  and  seen 
little,  I  know  that  very  often  it  has  been  His  will  that 
those  who  love  each  other  should  be  separated  by  death  or 
otherwise." 

"  Do  not  speak  of  it,"  he  said  with  a  groan. 

"  No,  I  will  not  speak  of  it,  but  there  is  one  more  thing 
of  which  I  must  speak.  Strangely  enough,  only  this  morn- 
ing my  mother  was  talking  of  you;  she  said  that  you  are 
English,  and  that  soon  or  late  blood  will  call  to  blood  and 
you  will  leave  us.  She  said  that  your  nest  is  not  here,  but 
there,  far  away  across  the  sea,  among  those  English;  that 
you  are  a  swallow  that  has  been  fledged  with  sparrows,  and 
that  one  day  you  will  find  the  wings  of  a  swallow.  What 
put  it  in  her  mind  to  speak  thus,  I  do  not  know,  but  I  do 
know,  Ealph,  that  her  words  filled  me  with  fear,  and  now 
I  understand  why  I  was  so  much  afraid." 


40  SWALLOW 

He  laughed  aloud  very  scornfully.  "  Then,  Suzanne/' 
he  said,  "  you  may  banish  your  fears,  for  this  I  swear  to 
you,  before  the  Almighty,  that  whoever  may  be  my  true 
kin,  were  a  kingdom  to  be  offered  to  me  among  them,  un- 
less you  could  share  it,  it  would  be  refused.  This  I  swear 
before  the  Almighty,  and  may  He  reject  me  if  I  forget 
the  oath." 

"  You  are  very  young  to  make  such  promises,  Ealph," 
she  answered  doubtfulty,  "  nor  do  I  hold  them  binding  on 
you.  At  nineteen,  so  I  am  told,  a  lad  will  swear  anything 
to  the  girl  who  takes  his  fancy." 

"  I  am  young  in  years,  Suzanne,  but  I  grew  old  while 
I  was  yet  a  child,  for  sorrow  aged  me.  You  have  heard 
my  oath;  let  it  be  put  to  the  test,  and  you  shall  learn 
whether  or  no  I  speak  the  truth.  Do  I  look  like  one  who 
does  not  know  his  mind?  " 

She  glanced  up  at  the  steady,  grey  eyes  and  the  stern, 
set  mouth  and  answered,  "  Ealph,  you  look  like  one  who 
knows  his  mind,  and  I  believe  you.  Pray  God  I  may  not 
be  deceived,  for  though  we  are  but  lad  and  girl,  if  it  prove 
so  I  tell  you  that  I  shall  live  my  life  out  with  a  broken 
heart." 

"  Do  not  fear,  Suzanne.  And  now  I  have  heard  what 
you  had  to  say,  and  I  claim  your  promise.  If  it  be  your 
will  I  will  kiss  you,  Suzanne,  but  not  in  farewell." 

"  Nay,"  she  answered,  "  kiss  me  rather  in  greeting  of 
the  full  and  beautiful  life  that  stretches  before  our  feet. 
Whether  the  path  be  short  or  long,  it  will  be  good  for  us 
and  ever  better,  but,  Ealph,  I  think  that  the  end  will  be 
best  of  all." 

So  he  took  her  in  his  arms,  and  they  kissed  each  other 
upon  the  lips,  and,  as  they  told  me  afterwards,  in  that  em- 
brace they  found  some  joy.  Why  should  they  not  indeed, 


A   LOVE  SCENE  AND  A    QUARREL  41 

for  if  anywhere  upon  the  earth,  if  it  be  given  and  received 
in  youth  before  the  heart  has  been  seared  and  tainted  with 
bitterness  and  disillusion,  surely  in  such  a  pledge  as  theirs 
true  joy  can  be  found.  Yes,  and  they  did  more  than  this, 
for,  kneeling  there  upon  that  rock  where  once  the  starving 
child  had  knelt  in  bygone  years,  they  prayed  to  Him  who 
had  brought  them  together,  to  Him  who  had  given  them 
hearts  to  love  with  and  bodies  to  be  loved,  and  the  immor- 
tality of  Heaven  wherein  to  garner  this  seed  of  love  thus 
sown  upon  the  earth,  that  He  would  guide  them,  bless 
them,  and  protect  them  through  all  trials,  terrors,  sorrows, 
and  separations.  As  shall  be  seen,  this  indeed  He  did. 

Then  they  rose,  and  having,  not  without  difficulty,  lifted 
the  riet-buck  ram  upon  Ralph's  horse  and  made  it  fast 
there,  as  our  hunters  know  how  to  do,  they  started  home- 
wards, walking  the  most  part  of  the  way,  for  the  load  was 
heavy  and  they  were  in  no  haste,  so  that  they  only  reached 
the  farm  about  noon. 

Kow  I,  watching  them  as  we  sat  at  our  mid-day  meal, 
grew  sure  that  something  out  of  the  common  had  passed 
between  them.  Suzanne  was  very  silent,  and  from  time 
to  time  glanced  at  Ralph  shyly,  whereon,  feeling  her  eyes, 
he  would  grow  red  as  the  sunset,  and  seeing  his  trouble, 
she  would  colour  also,  as  though  with  the  knowledge  of 
some  secret  that  made  her  both  happy  and  ashamed. 

"  You  were  long  this  morning  in  finding  a  buck,  Ralph," 
I  said. 

"Yes,  mother,''  he  answered:  "there  were  none  on  the 
flats,  for  the  grass  is  burnt  off;  and  had  not  Suzanne  beaten 
out  a  dry  pan  for  me  where  the  reeds  were  still  green,  I 
think  that  we  should  have  found  nothing.  As  it  was  I 
shot  badly,  hitting  the  ram  in  the  flank,  so  that  we  were 
obliged  to  follow  it  a  long  way  before  I  came  up  with  it." 


42  SWALLOW 

"  And  where  did  you  find  it  at  last?  "  I  asked. 

"  In  a  strange  place,  mother;  yes,  in  that  very  spot 
where  many  years  ago  Suzanne  came  upon  me  starving 
after  the  shipwreck.  There  in  the  glade  and  by  the  flat 
stone  on  which  I  had  lain  down  to  die  was  the  buck,  quite 
dead.  We  knew  the  dell  again,  though  neither  of  us  had 
visited  it  from  that  hour  to  this,  and  rested  there  awhile 
before  we  turned  home." 

I  made  no  answer  but  sat  thinking,  and  a  silence  fell  on 
all  of  us.  By  this  time  the  Kaffir  girls  had  cleared  away 
the  meat  and  brought  in  coffee,  which  we  drank  while  the 
men  filled  their  pipes  and  lit  them.  I  looked  at  Jan  and 
saw  that  he  was  making  up  his  mind  to  say  something,  for 
his  honest  face  was  troubled,  and  now  he  took  up  his  pipe, 
and  now  he  put  it  down,  moving  his  hands  restlessly  till 
at  length  he  upset  the  coffee  over  the  table. 

"  Doubtless,"  I  thought  to  myself,  "  he  means  to  tell  the 
tale  of  the  Englishmen  who  have  come  to  seek  for  Ralph. 
Well,  I  think  that  he  may  safely  tell  it  now." 

Then  I  looked  at  Ealph  and  saw  that  he  also  was  very 
ill  at  ease,  struggling  with  words  which  he  did  not  know 
how  to  utter.  I  noted,  moreover,  that  Suzanne  touched 
his  hand  with  hers  beneath  the  shelter  of  the  table  as 
though  to  comfort  and  encourage  him.  Now  watching 
these  two  men,  at  last  I  broke  out  laughing,  and  said, 
addressing  them: 

"  You  are  like  two  fires  of  green  weeds  in  a  mealie  patch, 
and  I  am  wondering  which  of  you  will  be  the  first  to  break 
into  flame  or  whether  you  will  both  be  choked  by  the  reek 
of  your  own  thoughts." 

My  gibe,  harmless  though  it  was,  stung  them  into 
speech,  and  both  at  once,  for  I  have  noticed,  however 
stupid  they  may  be,  that  men  never  like  to  be  laughed  at. 


A  LOVE  SCENE  AND  A   QUARREL  43 

"  I  have  something  to  say/'  said  each  of  them,  as  though 
with  a  single  voice,  and  they  paused,  looking  at  one  another 
angrily. 

"Then,  son,  wait  till  I  have  finished.  Almighty!  for 
the  last  twenty  minutes  you  have  been  sitting  as  silent  as 
an  ant-bear  in  a  hole,  and  I  tell  you  that  it  is  my  turn 
now;  why,  then,  do  you  interrupt  me?" 

"  I  am  very  sorry,  my  father/'  said  Kalph,  looking  much 
afraid,  for  he  thought  that  Jan  was  going  to  scold  him 
about  Suzanne,  and  his  conscience  being  guilty  caused  him 
to  forget  that  it  was  not  possible  that  he  should  know  any- 
thing of  the  matter  of  his  love-making. 

"  That  is  good,"  said  Jan,  still  glaring  at  him;  "  but  I 
am  not  your  father." 

"  Then  why  do  you  call  me  son  ?  "  asked  Kalph. 

"  Almighty!  do  you  suppose  that  I  sit  here  to  answer 
riddles?"  replied  Jan,  pulling  at  his  great  beard.  "Why 
do  I  call  you  son,  indeed?  Ah!  "  he  added  in  a  different 
voice,  a  sorrowful  voice,  "  why  do  I  when  I  have  no  right? 
Listen,  my  boy,  we  are  in  sore  trouble,  I  and  your  mother, 
or  if  she  is  not  your  mother  at  least  she  loves  you  as  much 
as  though  she  were,  and  I  love  you  too,  and  you  know  it; 
so  why  do  you  seek  to  make  a  fool  of  me  by  asking  me 
riddles?" 

Now,  Ralph  was  about  to  answer,  but  Suzanne  held  up 
her  hand,  and  he  was  quiet. 

"  My  son,"  went  on  Jan  with  a  kind  of  sob,  "  they  are 
coming  to  take  you  away  from  us." 

"They!     Who?  "  asked  Ralph. 

"Who?  The  English,  damn  them!  Yes,  I  say,  damn 
the  English  and  the  English  Government." 

"Peace,  Jan,"  I  broke  in,  "this  is  not  a  political  meet- 
ing, where  such  talk  is  right  and  proper." 


44  SWALLOW 

"  The  English  Government  is  coming  to  take  me  away!  " 
exclaimed  Kalph  bewildered.  "  What  has  the  Govern- 
ment to  do  with  me?  " 

"  No,"  said  Jan,  "  not  the  English  Government,  but  two 
Scotchmen,  which  is  much  the  same  thing.  I  tell  you  that 
they  are  travelling  to  this  place  to  take  you  away." 

Now,  Ralph  leaned  back  in  his  chair  and  stared  at  him, 
for  he  saw  that  it  was  little  use  to  ask  him  questions,  and 
that  he  must  leave  him  to  tell  the  tale  in  his  own  fashion. 
At  last  it  came  out. 

"  Ralph,"  said  my  husband,  "  you  know  that  you  are 
not  of  our  blood;  we  found  you  cast  up  on  the  beach  like 
a  storm-fish  and  took  you  in,  and  you  grew  dear  to  us;  yes, 
although  you  are  English  or  Scotch,  which  is  worse,  for  if 
the  English  bully  us  the  Scotch  bully  us  and  cheat  us  into 
the  bargain.  Well,  your  parents  were  drowned,  and  have 
now  been  in  Heaven  for  a  long  time,  but  I  am  sorry  to  say 
that  all  your  relations  were  not  drowned  with  them.  At 
first,  however,  they  took  no  trouble  to  hunt  for  you  when 
we  should  have  been  glad  enough  to  give  you  up." 

"  No,"  broke  in  Suzanne  and  I  with  one  voice,  and  I 
added,  "  How  do  you  dare  to  tell  such  lies  in  the  face  of 
the  Lord,  Jan  ?  " 

— When  it  would  not  have  been  so  bad  to  give  you 
up,"  he  went  on,  correcting  himself.  "  But  now  it  seems 
that  had  you  lived  you  would  have  inherited  estates,  or 
titles,  or  both." 

"Is  the  boy  dead  then?"  I  asked. 

"  Be  silent,  wife,  I  mean — had  he  lived  a  Scotchman. 
Therefore,  having  made  inquiries,  and  learned  that  a  lad 
of  your  name  and  age  had  been  rescued  from  a  shipwreck 
and  was  still  alive  among  the  Boers  in  the  Transkei,  they 
have  set  to  work  to  hunt  you,  and  are  coming  here  to  take 


A   LOVE  SCENE  AND  A    QUARREL  45 

you  away,  for  I  tell  you  that  I  heard  it  in  the  dorp  yon- 
der." 

"Is  it  so?"  said  Ralph,  while  Suzanne  hung  upon  his 
words  with  white  face  and  trembling  lips.  "  Then  I  tell 
you  that  I  will  not  go.  I  may  be  English,  but  my  home 
is  here.  My  own  father  and  mother  are  dead,  and  these 
strangers  are  nothing  to  me,  nor  are  the  estates  and  titles 
far  away  anything  to  me.  All  that  I  hold  dear  on  the 
earth  is  here  in  the  Transkei,"  and  he  glanced  at  Suzanne, 
who  seemed  to  bless  him  with  her  eyes. 

"  You  talk  like  a  fool,"  said  Jan,  but  in  a  voice  which 
was  full  of  a  joy  that  he  could  not  hide,  "  as  is  to  be  ex- 
pected of  an  ignorant  boy.  Now  I  am  a  man  who  has 
seen  the  world,  and  I  know  better,  and  I  tell  you  that 
although  they  are  an  accursed  race,  still  it  is  a  fine  thing 
to  be  a  lord  among  the  English.  Yes,  yes,  I  know  the 
English  lords.  I  saw  one  once  when  I  went  to  Capetown; 
he  was  the  Governor  there,  and  driving  through  the  streets 
in  state,  dressed  as  bravely  as  a  blue-jay  in  his  spring 
plumage,  while  everybody  took  off  their  hats  to  him,  ex- 
cept I,  Jan  Botmar,  who  would  not  humble  myself  thus. 
Yet  to  have  such  clothes  as  that  to  wear  every  day,  while 
all  the  people  salute  you  and  make  a  path  for  you,  is  not 
a  thing  to  be  laughed  at.  See  boy,  it  just  comes  to  this: 
here  you  are  poor  and  little,  there  you  may  be  rich  and 
much, and  it  is  our  duty  not  to  stand  in  your  road, though  it 
may  break  our  hearts  to  lose  you.  So  you  had  best  make  up 
your  mind  to  go  away  with  the  damned  Scotchmen  when 
they  come,  though  I  hope  that  you  will  think  kindly  of  us 
when  you  get  to  your  own  country.  Yes,  yes,  you  shall  go, 
and  what  is  more,  you  may  take  my  best  horse  to  ride  away 
on,  the  thoroughbred  scJiimmel,  and  my  new  black  felt  hat 
that  I  bought  in  the  dorp.  There,  that  is  done  with. 


46  SWALLOW 

praise  be  to  God,  and  I  am  going  out,  for  this  place  is  so 
thick  with  smoke  that  I  can't  see  my  own  hand,"  and  he 
rose  to  go,  adding  that  if  the  two  Scotchmen  did  not  want 
a  bullet  through  them,  it  would  be  as  well  if  they  kept 
out  of  his  way  when  they  came  upon  the  farm. 

Now  in  saying  that  the  room  was  thick  with  smoke  Jan 
lied,  for  both  the  men's  pipes  went  out  when  they  began 
to  talk.  But  as  I  knew  why  he  lied  I  did  not  think  so 
much  of  it.  To  tell  the  truth,  at  that  moment  I  could 
see  little  better  than  he  could,  since,  although  I  would 
have  poisoned  those  two  Scotchmen  before  I  suffered  them 
to  take  Ealph  away,  the  very  thought  of  his  going  was 
enough  to  fill  my  eyes  with  tears,  and  to  cause  Suzanne  to 
weep  aloud  shamelessly. 

"  Wait  a  bit,  father, — I  beg  your  pardon,  Jan  Botmar," 
said  Ealph  in  a  clear  and  angry  voice;  "  it  is  my  turn  now, 
for  you  may  remember  that  when  we  began  to  talk  I  had 
something  to  say,  but  you  stopped  me.  Now,  with  your 
leave,  as  you  have  got  off  the  horse  I  will  get  on." 
Jan  slowly  sat  down  again  and  said: 

"Speak.     What  is  it?" 

"  This:  that  if  you  send  me  away  you  are  likely  to  lose 
more  than  you  bargain  for." 

Now  Jan  stared  at  him  perplexedly,  but  I  smiled,  for  I 
guessed  what  was  to  come. 

"What  am  I  likely  to  lose?"  he  asked,  "beyond  my 
best  horse  and  my  felt  hat?  Allemachter!  Do  you  want 
my  span  of  black  oxen  also?  Well,  you  shall  have  them 
if  you  like,  for  I  should  wish  you  to  trek  to  your  new 
home  in  England  behind  good  cattle." 

"  No,"  answered  Ealph  coolly,  "  but  I  want  your  daugh- 
ter, and  if  you  send  me  away  I  think  that  she  will  come 
with  me." 


CHAPTER    VI 

THE    COMING    OF    THE    ENGLISHMEN 

Now  on  hearing  this  Suzanne  said,  "  Oh! "  and  sank 
back  in  her  chair  as  though  she  were  going  to  faint;  but 
I  burst  out  laughing,  half  because  Ralph's  impertinence 
tickled  me  and  half  at  the  sight  of  my  husband's  face. 
Presently  he  turned  upon  me  in  a  fine  rage. 

"  Be  silent,  you  silly  woman,"  he  said.  "  Do  you  hear 
what  that  mad  boy  says?  He  says  that  he  wants  my 
daughter." 

"Well,  what  of  it?"  I  answered.  "Is  there  anything 
wonderful  in  that?  Suzanne  is  of  an  age  to  be  married 
and  pretty  enough  for  any  young  man  to  want  her." 

"  Yes,  yes;  that  is  true  now  I  come  to  think  of  it,"  said 
Jan,  pulling  his  beard.  "  But,  woman,  he  says  that  he 
wants  to  take  her  away  with  him." 

"Ah!"  I  replied,  "that  is  another  matter.  That  he 
shall  never  do  with  my  consent." 

"  Xo,  indeed,  he  shall  never  do  that,"  echoed  Jan. 

"  Suzanne,"  said  I  in  the  pause  that  followed,  "  you  have 
heard  all  this  talk.  Tell  us,  then,  openly  what  is  your 
mind  in  the  matter." 

"  My  mind  is,  mother,"  she  answered  very  quietly,  "  that 
I  wish  to  obey  you  and  my  father  in  all  things,  as  is  my 
duty,  but  that  I  have  a  deeper  duty  towards  Ralph  whom 


48  SWALLOW 

God  gave  me  out  of  the  sea.  Therefore,  if  you  send  away 
Ealph  without  a  cause,  if  he  desires  it  I  shall  follow  him 
as  soon  as  I  am  of  age  and  marry  him,  or  if  you  keep  me 
from  him  by  force  then  I  think  that  I  shall  die.  That  is 
all  I  have  to  say." 

"  And  quite  enough,  too/'  I  answered,  though  in  my 
heart  I  liked  the  girl's  spirit,  and  guessed  that  she  was 
playing  a  part  to  prevent  her  father  from  sending  away 
Ealph  against  his  will. 

"  All  this  is  pretty  hearing,"  said  Jan,  staring  from  one 
to  the  other.  "  Why,  now  that  I  think  of  it,  I  never  heard 
that  you  two  were  more  than  brother  and  sister  to  each 
other.  Say,  you  shameless  girl,  when  did  all  this  come 
about,  and  why  do  you  dare  to  promise  yourself  in  mar- 
riage without  my  consent?" 

"  Because  there  was  no  time  to  ask  it,  father,"  said  Su- 
zanne, looking  down,  "for  Ealph  and  I  only  spoke  together 
this  morning." 

"  He  spoke  to  you  this  morning,  and  now  it  seems  that 
you  are  ready  to  forsake  your  father  and  your  mother  and 
to  follow  him  across  the  world,  you  wicked  and  ungrateful 
child." 

"  I  am  not  wicked  and  I  am  not  ungrateful,"  answered 
Suzanne;  "  it  is  you  who  are  wicked,  who  want  to  send 
Ealph  away  and  break  all  our  hearts." 

"  It  is  false,  miss,"  shouted  her  father  in  answer,  "  for 
you  know  well  that  I  do  not  want  to  send  him  away." 

"  Then  why  did  you  tell  him  that  he  must  go  and  take 
your  roan  horse  and  new  hat  ?  " 

"  For  his  own  good,  girl." 

"  Is  it  for  his  good  that  he  should  go  away  from  all  of 
us  who  love  him  and  be  lost  across  the  sea?  "  and  choking 
she  burst  into  tears,  while  her  father  muttered: 


THE  COMING   OF  THE  ENGLISHMEN  49 

"  Why,  the  girl  has  become  like  a  tiger,  she  who  was 
milder  than  a  sheep!  " 

"  Hush,  Suzanne,"  broke  in  Ealph,  "  and  you  who  have 
been  father  and  mother  to  me,  listen  I  pray  you.  It  is 
true  that  Suzanne  and  I  love  each  other  very  dearly,  as 
we  have  always  loved  each  other,  though  how  much  we 
did  not  know  till  this  morning.  Now,  I  am  a  waif  and 
a  castaway  whom  you  have  nurtured,  and  have  neither 
lands  nor  goods  of  my  own,  therefore  you  may  well  think 
that  I  am  no  match  for  your  daughter,  who  is  so  beautiful, 
and  who,  if  she  outlives  you,  will  inherit  all  that  you  have. 
If  you  decide  thus  it  is  just,  however  hard  it  may  be.  But 
you  tell  me,  though  I  have  heard  nothing  of  it  till  now, 
and  I  think  that  it  may  be  but  idle  talk,  that  I  have  both 
lands  and  goods  far  away  in  England,  and  you  bid  me  be- 
gone to  them.  Well,  if  you  turn  me  out  I  must  go,  for 
I  cannot  stay  alone  in  the  veldt  without  a  house,  or  a 
friend,  or  a  hoof  of  cattle.  But  then  I  tell  you  that  when 
Suzanne  is  of  age  I  shall  return  and  marry  her,  and  take 
her  away  with  me,  as  I  have  a  right  to  do  if  she  desires  it, 
for  I  will  not  lose  everything  that  I  love  in  the  world  at 
one  stroke.  Indeed  nothing  but  death  shall  part  me  from 
Suzanne.  Therefore,  it  conies  to  this:  either  you  must  let 
me  stay  here  and,  poor  as  I  am,  be  married  to  Suzanne 
when  it  shall  please  you,  or,  if  you  dismiss  me,  you  must 
be  ready  to  see  me  come  back  and  take  away  Suzanne." 

"  Suzanne,  Suzanne,"  I  interrupted  angrily,  for  I  grew 
jealous  of  the  girl;  "  have  you  no  thought  or  word,  Ralph, 
for  any  save  Suzanne?" 

"  I  have  thoughts  for  all/'  he  answered,  "  but  Suzanne 
alone  has  thought  for  me,  since  it  seems  that  your  hus- 
band would  send  me  away,  and  you,  mother,  sit  still  and 
say  not  a  word  to  stop  him." 
4 


50  SWALLOW 

"  Learn  to  judge  speech  and  not  silence,  lad,"  I  an- 
swered. "  Look  you,  all  have  been  talking,  and  I  have 
shammed  dead  like  a  stink-cat  when  dogs  are  about;  now 
I  am  going  to  begin.  First  of  all,  you,  Jan,  are  a  fool,  for 
in  your  thick  head  you  think  that  rank  and  wealth  are 
everything  to  a  man,  and  therefore  you  would  send  Kalph 
away  to  seek  rank  and  wealth  that  may  or  may  not  belong 
to  him,  although  he  does  not  wish  to  go.  As  for  you, 
Ealph,  you  are  a  bigger  fool,  for  you  think  that  Jan  Bot- 
mar,  your  foster-father  here,  desires  to  be  rid  of  you  when 
in  truth  he  only  seeks  your  good  to  his  own  sore  loss.  As 
for  you,  Suzanne,  you  are  the  biggest  fool  of  all,  for  you 
wish  to  fly  in  everybody's  face,  like  a  cat  with  her  first 
litter  of  kittens;  but  there,  what  is  the  use  of  arguing  with 
a  girl  in  love?  ISTow  listen,  and  I  will  ask  you  some  ques- 
tions, all  of  you.  Jan,  do  you  wish  to  send  Ealph  away 
with  these  strangers  ?  " 

"Almighty!  vrouw,"  he  answered,  "you  know  well  that 
I  would  as  soon  send  away  my  right  hand.  I  wish  him 
to  stop  here  for  ever,  and  whatever  I  have  is  his;  yes, 
even  my  daughter.  But  I  seek  what  is  best  for  him, 
and  I  would  not  have  it  said  in  after  years  that  Jan  Bot- 
rnar  had  kept  an  English  lad  not  old  enough  to  judge  for 
himself  from  his  rank  and  wealth  because  he  took  pleas- 
ure in  his  companv  and  wished  to  marry  him  to  his 
girl." 

"Good,"  I  said.  "And  now  for  you,  Suzanne;  what 
have  you  to  say?  " 

"  I  have  nothing  to  add  to  my  words,"  she  replied;  "  you 
know  all  my  heart." 

"Good  again.     And  you,  Ealph?" 

"  I  say,  mother,  that  I  will  not  budge  from  this  place 
unless  I  am  ordered  to  go,  and  if  I  do  go,  I  will  come  back 


THE  COMINQ   OF  THE  ENGLISHMEN  51 

for  Suzanne.  I  love  you  all,  and  with  you  I  wish  to  live 
and  nowhere  else." 

"  Nay,  Ralph,"  I  answered  sighing,  "  if  once  you  go  you 
will  never  come  back,  for  out  yonder  you  will  find  a  new 
home,  new  interests,  and,  perchance,  new  loves.  Well, 
though  nobody  has  thought  of  me  in  this  matter,  I  have 
a  voice  in  it,  and  I  will  speak  for  myself.  That  lad  yonder 
has  been  a  son  to  me  for  many  years,  and  I  who  have  none 
love  him  as  such.  He  is  a  man  as  we  reckon  in  this 
country,  and  he  does  not  wish  to  leave  us  any  more  than 
we  wish  him  to  go.  Moreover,  he  loves  Suzanne,  and 
Suzanne  loves  him,  and  I  believe  that  the  God  who 
brought  them  together  at  first  means  them  to  be  husband 
and  wife,  and  that  such  love  as  they  bear  to  each  other 
will  give  them  more  together  than  any  wealth  or  rank  can 
bring  to  them  apart.  Therefore  I  say,  husband,  let  our 
son,  Ralph,  stay  here  with  us  and  marry  our  daughter, 
Suzanne,  decently  and  in  due  season,  and  let  their  children 
be  our  children,  and  their  love  our  love." 

"  And  how  about  the  Scotchmen  who  are  coming  with 
power  to  take  him  away?  " 

"  Do  you  and  Ralph  go  to  the  bush-veldt  with  the  cattle 
to-morrow,"  I  answered,  "  and  leave  me  to  deal  with  the 
Scotchmen." 

"  Well,"  said  Jan,  "  I  consent,  for  who  can  stand  up 
against  so  many  words,  and  the  Lord  knows  that  to  lose 
Ralph  would  have  broken  my  heart  as  it  would  have 
broken  that  girl's,  perhaps  more  so,  since  girls  change 
their  fancies,  but  I  am  too  old  to  change.  Come  here,  my 
children." 

They  came,  and  he  laid  one  of  his  big  hands  upon  the 
head  of  each  of  them,  saying: — 

"  May  the  God  in  Heaven  bless  you  both,  who  to  me 


52  SWALLOW 

are  one  as  dear  as  the  other,  making  you  happy  with  each 
other  for  many  long  years,  and  may  He  turn  aside  from 
you  and  from  us  the  punishment  that  is  due  to  all  of  us 
because,  on  account  of  our  great  love,  we  are  holding  you 
back,  Ralph,  from  the  home,  the  kin  and  the  fortune  to 
which  you  were  born."  Then  he  kissed  each  of  them  on 
the  forehead  and  let  them  go. 

"  If  there  be  any  punishment  for  that  which  is  no  sin, 
on  my  head  be  it,"  said  Ralph,  "  since  never  would  I  have 
gone  from  here  by  my  own  will." 

"  Aye,  aye,"  answered  Jan,  "  but  who  can  take  account 
of  the  talk  of  a  lad  in  love?  Well,  we  have  committed 
the  sin  and  we  must  bear  the  sorrow.  Now  I  go  out  to 
see  to  the  kraaling  of  the  cattle,  which  we  will  drive  off 
to  the  bush-veldt  to-morrow  at  dawn,  for  I  will  have 
naught  to  do  with  these  Scotchmen;  your  mother  must 
settle  with  them  as  she  wills,  only  I  beg  of  her  that  she 
will  tell  me  nothing  of  the  bargain.  Nay,  do  not  come 
with  me,  Ralph;  stop  you  with  your  dear,  for  to-morrow 
you  will  be  parted  for  a  while." 

So  he  went,  and  did  not  return  again  till  late,  and  we 
three  sat  together  and  made  pretence  to  be  very  happy, 
but  somehow  were  a  litle  sad,  for  Jan's  words  about  sin 
and  sorrow  stuck  in  our  hearts,  as  the  honest  words  of  a 
stupid,  upright  man  are  apt  to  do. 

Now  on  the  morrow  at  dawn,  as  had  been  arranged,  Jan 
and  Ralph  rode  away  to  the  warm  veldt  with  the  cattle, 
leaving  me  and  Suzanne  to  look  after  the  farm.  Three 
days  later  the  Scotchmen  came,  and  then  it  was  that  for 
love  of  Ralph  and  for  the  sake  of  the  happiness  of  my 
daughter  I  sinned  the  greatest  sin  of  all  my  life — the  sin 
that  was  destined  to  shape  the  fates  of  others  yet  unborn. 


THE  COMING   OF  THE  ENGLISHMEN  53 

I  was  seated  on  the  stoep  in  the  afternoon  when  I  saw 
three  white  men  and  some  Cape  boys,  their  servants,  riding 
up  to  the  house. 

"  Here  come  those  who  would  steal  my  boy  from  me," 
I  thought  to  myself,  and,  like  Pharaoh,  I  hardened  my 
heart. 

Now  in  those  days  my  sight  was  very  good,  and  while 
the  men  were  yet  some  way  off  I  studied  them  all  and 
made  up  my  mind  about  them.  First  there  was  a  large 
young  man  of  five-and-twenty  or  thereabouts,  and  I  noted 
with  a  sort  of  fear  that  he  was  not  unlike  to  Ralph.  The 
eyes  were  the  same  and  the  shape  of  the  forehead,  only 
this  gentleman  had  a  weak,  uncertain  mouth,  and  I  judged 
that  he  was  very  good-humoured,  but  of  an  indolent  mind. 
By  his  side  rode  another  man  of  quite  a  different  stamp, 
and  middle-aged.  "  The  lawyer,"  I  said  to  myself  as  I 
looked  at  his  weasel-like  face,  bushy  eyebrows,  and  red 
hair.  Indeed,  that  was  an  easy  guess,  for  who  can  mistake 
a  lawyer,  whatever  his  race  may  be?  That  trade  is  stronger 
than  any  blood,  and  leaves  the  same  seal  on  all  who  follow 
it.  Doubtless  if  those  lawyers  of  whom  the  Lord  speaks 
hard  things  in  the  Testament  were  set  side  by  side  with 
the  lawyers  who  draw  mortgage  bonds  and  practise  usury 
here  in  South  Africa,  they  would  prove  to  be  as  like  to 
each  other  as  are  the  grains  of  corn  upon  one  mealie  cob. 
Yes,  when,  all  dressed  the  fame,  they  stand  together  among 
Ihe  goats  on  the  last  day  few  indeed  will  know  them  apart. 

"A  fool  and  a  knave,"  said  I  to  myself.  "Well,  per- 
haps I  can  deal  with  the  knave  and  then  the  fool  will  not 
trouble  me." 

As  for  the  third  man,  I  took  no  pains  to  study  him,  for 
I  saw  at  once  that  he  was  nothing  but  an  interpreter. 

Well,  up  they  rode  to  the  slocp,  the  two  Englishmen 


54  SWALLOW 

taking  off  their  hats  to  me,  after  their  foolish  fashion, 
while  the  interpreter,  who  called  me  "  Aunt,"  although  I 
was  younger  than  he  was,  asked  for  leave  to  off-saddle, 
according  to  our  custom.  I  nodded  my  head,  and  having 
given  the  horses  to  the  Cape  boys,  they  came  up  onto  the 
stoep  and  shook  hands  with  me  as  I  sat.  I  was  not 
going  to  rise  to  greet  two  Englishmen  whom  I  already 
hated  in  my  heart,  first  because  they  were  Englishmen, 
and  secondly  because  they  were  about  to  tempt  me  into 
sin,  for  such  sooner  or  later  we  always  learn  to  hate. 

"  Sit,"  I  said,  pointing  to  the  yellow-wood  bench  which 
was  seated  with  strips  of  rimpi,  and  the  three  of  them 
squeezed  themselves  into  the  bench  and  sat  there  like 
white-breasted  crows  on  a  bough;  the  young  man  staring 
at  me  with  a  silly  smile,  the  lawyer  peering  this  way  and 
that,  and  turning  up  his  sharp  nose  at  the  place  and  all 
in  it,  and  the  interpreter  doing  nothing  at  all,  for  he  was 
a  sensible  man,  who  knew  the  habits  of  well-bred  people 
and  how  to  behave  in  their  presence.  After  five  minutes 
or  so  the  lawyer  grew  impatient,  and  said  something  in  a 
sharp  voice,  to  which  the  interpreter  answered,  "  Wait." 

So  they  waited  till,  just  as  the  young  man  was  beginning 
to  go  to  sleep  before  my  very  eyes,  Suzanne  came  onto  the 
verandah,  whereupon  he  woke  up  in  a  hurry,  and,  jumping 
off  the  bench,  began  to  bow  and  scrape  and  to  offer  her 
his  seat,  for  there  was  no  other. 

"  Suzanne,"  I  said,  taking  no  notice  of  his  bad  manners, 
"  get  coffee,"  and  she  went,  looking  less  displeased  at  his 
grimaces  than  I  would  have  had  her  do. 

In  time  the  coffee  came,  and  they  drank  it,  or  pretended 
to,  after  which  the  lawyer  began  to  grow  impatient  once 
more,  and  spoke  to  the  interpreter,  who  said  to  me  that 
thev  had  come  to  visit  us  on  a  matter  of  business. 


THE  COMING   OF  THE  ENGLISHMEN  55 

"  Then  tell  him  that  it  can  wait  till  after  we  have 
eaten/'  I  answered.  "  It  is  not  my  habit  to  talk  business 
in  the  afternoon.  Why  is  the  lawyer  man  so  impatient, 
seeing  that  doubtless  he  is  paid  by  the  day?  " 

This  was  translated,  and  the  lawyer  asked  how  I  knew 
his  trade. 

"  In  the  same  way  that  I  know  a  weasel  by  its  face  and 
a  stink-cat  by  its  smell,"  I  replied,  for  every  minute  I 
hated  that  advocate  more. 

At  this  answer  the  lawyer  grew  white  with  anger,  and 
the  young  lord  burst  into  a  roar  of  laughter,  for,  as  I  have 
said,  these  English  people  have  no  manners.  However, 
they  settled  themselves  down  again  on  the  yellow-wood 
bench  and  looked  at  me;  while  I,  folding  my  hands,  sat 
opposite,  and  looked  at  them  for  somewhere  about  another 
hour,  as  the  interpreter  told  them  that  if  they  moved  I 
should  be  offended,  and,  for  my  part,  I  was  determined 
that  I  would  not  speak  to  them  of  their  business  until 
Suzanne  had  gone  to  bed. 

At  last,  when  I  saw  that  they  would  bear  it  no  longer, 
for  they  were  becoming  very  wrathful,  and  saying  words 
that  sounded  like  oaths,  I  called  for  supper  and  we  went 
in  and  ate  it.  Here  again  I  noticed  the  resemblance  be- 
tween the  young  man  and  Ralph,  for  lie  had  the  same 
tricks  of  eating  and  drinking,  and  I  saw  that  when  he  had 
done  his  meat  he  turned  himself  a  little  sideways  from  the 
table,  crossing  his  legs  in  a  peculiar  fashion  just  as  it 
always  had  been  Ralph's  habit  to  do. 

"  The  two  had  one  grandfather,  or  one  grandmother," 
I  said  to  myself,  and  grew  afraid  at  the  thought. 


•CHAPTER   VII 

THE    SIN    OF   VKOUW    BOTMAR 

WHEN  the  meat  was  cleared  away  I  bade  Suzanne  go 
to  bed,  which  she  did  most  unwillingly,  for  knowing  the 
errand  of  these  men  she  wished  to  hear  our  talk.  As  soon 
as  she  was  gone  I  took  a  seat  so  that  the  light  of  the 
candles  left  my  face  in  shadow  and  fell  full  on  those 
of  the  three  men — a  wise  thing  to  do  if  one  is  wicked 
enough  to  intend  to  tell  lies  about  any  matter — and  said: 

"  Now,  here  I  am  at  your  service;  be  pleased  to  set  out 
the  business  that  you  have  in  hand." 

Then  they  began,  the  lawyer,  speaking  through  the  in- 
terpreter, asking,  "Are  you  the  Vrouw  Botmar?" 

"  That  is  my  name." 

''Where  is  your  husband,  Jan  Botmar?" 

"  Somewhere  on  the  veldt;  I  do  not  know  where." 

"  Will  he  be  back  to-morrow?  " 

"  No." 

"When  will  he  be  back?" 

"  Perhaps  in  two  months,  perhaps  in  three,  I  cannot 
tell." 

At  this  they  consulted  together,  and  then  went  on: 

"  Have  you  living  with  you  a  young  Englishman  named 
Ralph  Mackenzie?" 

"  One  named  Ralph  Kenzie  lives  with  us." 


THE  SIN  OF   VUOUW  BOTMAR  57 

"Where  is  he?" 

"  With  my  husband  on  the  veldt.  I  do  not  know 
where." 

"  Can  you  find  him?  " 

"  No.,  the  veldt  is  very  wide.  If  you  wish  to  see  him 
you  must  wait  till  he  comes  back." 

"When  will  that  be?" 

"  I  am  not  his  nurse  and  cannot  tell;  perhaps  in  three 
months,  perhaps  in  six." 

Now  again  they  consulted,  and  once  more  went  on: 

"  Was  the  boy,  Ealph  Mackenzie,  or  Kenzie,  ship- 
wrecked in  the  India  in  the  year  1824?  " 

"  Dear  Lord! "  I  cried,  affecting  to  lose  my  patience, 
"  am  I  an  old  Kaffir  wife  up  before  the  Landdrost  for  steal- 
ing hens  that  I  should  be  cross-questioned  in  this  fashion? 
Set  out  all  your  tale  at  once,  man,  and  I  will  answer  it." 

Thereon,  shrugging  his  shoulders,  the  lawyer  produced 
a  paper  which  the  interpreter  translated  to  me.  In  it 
were  written  down  the  names  of  the  passengers  who  were 
upon  the  vessel  India  when  she  sailed  from  a  place  called 
Bombay,  and  among  the  names  those  of  Lord  and  Lady 
Glenthirsk  and  of  their  son,  the  Honourable  Ealph  Mac- 
kenzie, aged  nine.  Then  followed  the  evidence  of  one  or 
two  survivors  of  the  shipwreck,  which  stated  that  Lady 
(Jlenthirsk  and  her  son  were  seen  to  reach  the  shore  in 
safety  in  the  boat  that  was  launched  from  the  sinking  ship. 
After  this  came  a  paragraph  from  an  English  newspaper 
published  in  Capetown,  dated  not  two  years  before,  and 
headed  "  Strange  Tale  of  the  Sea,"  which  paragraph,  with 
some  few  errors,  told  the  story  of  the  finding  of  Ealph — 
though  how  the  Avriting  man  knew  it  I  know  not,  unless 
it  was  through  the  tutor  with  the  blue  spectacles  of  whom 
I  have  spoken — and  said  that  he  was  still  living  on  the 


58  SWALLOW 

farm  of  Jan  Botmar  in  the  Transkei.  This  was  all  that 
was  in  the  paper.  I  asked  to  look  at  it  and  kept  it,  saying 
in  the  morning  that  the  Kaffir  girl  seeing  it  lying  about 
the  kitchen  had  used  it  to  light  the  fire;  but  to  this  day 
it  is  with  the  other  things  in  the  waggon  chest  under  my 
bed. 

When  the  paper  was  done  with,  the  lawyer  took  up  the 
tale  and  told  me  that  it  was  believed  in  England  that  Lord 
Glenthirsk  had  been  drowned  in  the  sea,  as  indeed  he  was, 
and  that  Lady  Glenthirsk  and  her  son  perished  on  the 
shore  with  the  other  women  and  children,  for  so  those 
sent  by  the  English  Government  to  search  out  the  facts 
had  reported.  Thus  it  came  about  that  after  a  while  Lord 
Glenthirsk's  younger  brother  was  admitted  by  law  to  his 
title  and  estates,  which  he  enjoyed  for  some  eight  years, 
that  is,  until  his  death.  About  a  year  before  he  died,  how- 
ever, someone  sent  him  the  paragraph  headed  "  Strange 
Tale  of  the  Sea,"  and  he  was  much  disturbed  by  it,  though 
to  himself  he  argued  that  it  was  nothing  but  an  idle  story, 
such  as  it  seems  are  often  put  into  newspapers.  The  end 
of  the  matter  was  that  he  took  no  steps  to  discover  whether 
the  tale  were  true  or  false,  and  none  knew  of  it  save  him- 
self, and  he  was  not  minded  to  go  fishing  in  that  ugly 
water.  So  it  came  about  that  he  kept  silent  as  the  grave, 
till  at  length,  when  the  grave  yawned  at  his  feet,  and  when 
the  rank  and  the  lands  and  the  wealth  were  of  no  more 
use  to  him,  he  opened  his  mouth  to  his  son  and  to  his 
lawyer,  the  two  men  who  sat  before  me,  and  to  them  only, 
bidding  them  seek  out  the  beginnings  of  the  tale,  and  if 
it  were  true,  to  make  restitution  to  his  nephew. 

Now — for  all  this,  listening  with  my  ears  wide  open,  and 
sometimes  filling  in  what  was  not  told  me  in  words,  I 
gathered  from  the  men  before  they  left  the  house — as  it 


THE  SIN  OF   VROUW  BOTMAR  59 

chanced  the  dying  lord  could  not  have  chosen  two  worse 
people  for  such  an  errand,  seeing  that  although  the  son  was 
honest,  both  of  them  were  interested  in  proving  the  tale 
to  be  false.  Since  that  time,  however,  often  I  have 
thought  that  he  knew  this  himself,  and  trusted  by  the 
choice  both  to  cheat  his  own  conscience  and  to  preserve 
the  wealth  and  dignity  for  his  son.  God,  to  whom  he  has 
gone,  alone  knows  the  truth  of  it,  but  with  such  a  man  it 
may  very  well  have  been  as  I  think.  I  say  that  both  were 
interested,  for  it  seems,  as  he  told  me  afterwards,  that  the 
lawyer  was  to  receive  a  great  sum — ten  thousand  pounds — 
under  the  will  of  the  dead  lord  for  whom  he  had  done 
much  during  his  lifetime.  But  if  Ralph  were  proved  to 
be  the  heir  this  sum  would  have  been  his  and  not  the 
lawyer's,  for  the  money  was  part  of  his  father's  inherit- 
ance; therefore  it  was  worth  just  ten  thousand  pounds  to 
that  lawyer  to  convince  himself  and  the  false  lord  that 
Ralph  was  not  the  man,  and  therefore  it  was  that  I  found 
him  so  easy  to  deal  with. 

Xow  after  his  father  was  dead  the  lawyer  tried  to  per- 
suade the  son  to  take  no  notice  of  his  dying  words,  and  to 
let  the  matter  rest  where  it  was,  seeing  that  lie  had  noth- 
ing to  gain  and  much  to  lose.  But  this  ho  would  not  con- 
sent to,  for,  as  I  have  said,  he  was  honest,  declaring  that 
he  could  not  be  easy  in  his  mind  till  ho  know  the  truth, 
and  that  if  he  did  not  go  to  find  it  out  himself  he  would 
send  others  to  do  so  for  him.  As  the  lawyer  desired  this 
least  of  anything,  he  gave  way,  and  they  set  out  upon  their 
journey — which  in  those  days  was  a  very  groat  journey 
indeed — arriving  at  last  in  safety  at  our  stead  in  the 
Transkei;  for,  whether  he  liked  it  or  not.  his  companion — 
who  now  was  called  Lord  Olonthirsk — would  not  be  turned 
aside  from  the  search  or  suffer  him  to  prosecute  it  alone. 


60  SWALLOW 

At  length,  when  all  the  tale  was  told,  the  lawyer  looked 
at  me  with  his  sharp  eyes  and  said,  through  the  interpreter: 

"  Vrouw  Botmar,  you  have  heard  the  story,  tell  us  what 
you  know.  Is  the  young  man  who  lives  with  you  he  whom 
we  seek  ?  " 

Now  I  thought  for  a  second,  though  that  second  seemed 
like  a  year.  All  doubt  had  left  me,  there  was  no  room  for 
it.  Ealph  and  no  other  was  the  man,  and  on  my  answer 
might  hang  his  future.  But  I  had  argued  the  thing  out 
before  and  made  up  my  mind  to  lie,  though,  so  far  as  I 
know,  it  is  the  only  lie  I  ever  told,  and  I  am  not  a  woman 
who  often  changes  her  mind.  Therefore  I  lied. 

"  It  is  not  he,"  I  said,  "  though  for  his  sake  I  might 
\dsh  that  it  were,  and  this  I  can  prove  to  you." 

Now,  when  I  had  told  this  great  falsehood,  prompted  to 
it  by  my  love  for  the  lad  and  my  love  for  Suzanne,  his 
affianced  wife,  my  mind  grew  as  it  were  empty  for  a  mo- 
ment, and  I  remember  that  in  the  emptiness  I  seemed  to 
hear  a  sound  of  laughter  echoing  in  the  air  somewhere 
above  the  roof  of  the  house.  Very  swiftly  I  recovered 
myself,  and  looking  at  the  men  I  saw  that  my  words  re- 
joiced them,  except  the  interpreter  indeed,  who  being  a 
paid  servant  coming  from  far  away,  from  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Capetown  I  believe,  had  no  interest  in  the  matter 
one  way  or  the  other  beyond  that  of  earning  his  money 
with  as  little  trouble  as  possible.  Yes,  they  smiled  at  each 
other,  looking  as  though  a  great  weight  had  been  lifted 
off  their  minds,  till  presently  the  lawyer  checked  himself 
and  said: 

"  Be  so  good  as  to  set  out  the  proofs  of  which  you  speak, 
Vrouw  Botmar." 

"  I  will,"  I  answered,  "  but  tell  me  first,  the  ship  India 
was  wrecked  in  the  year  1824,  was  she  not?  " 


THE  SIN  OF   VROUW  BOTMAR  61 

"  Undoubtedly/'  answered  the  lawyer. 

"  Well,  have  you  heard  that  another  ship  called  the 
Flora,  travelling  from  the  Cape  I  know  not  whither,  was 
lost  on  this  coast  in  the  same  month  of  the  following  year, 
and  that  a  few  of  her  passengers  escaped?" 

"  I  have  heard  of  it,"  he  said. 

"  Good.  Now  look  here,"  and  going  to  a  chest  that 
stood  beneath  the  window,  I  lifted  from  it  the  old  Bible 
that  belonged  to  my  grandfather  and  father,  on  the  white 
pages  at  the  beginning  of  which  are  written  the  record  of 
many  births,  marriages,  deaths  and  other  notable  events 
that  had  happened  in  the  family.  Opening  it  I  searched 
and  pointed  to  a  certain  entry  inscribed  in  the  big  writing 
of  my  husband  Jan,  and  in  ink  which  was  somewhat  faint, 
for  the  ink  that  the  traders  sold  us  in  those  days  had  little 
virtue  in  it.  Beneath  this  entry  were  others  made  by  Jan 
in  later  years,  telling  of  things  that  had  happened  to  us, 
such  as  the  death  of  his  great-aunt  who  left  him  money, 
the  outbreak  of  small-pox  on  the  farm,  and  the  number  of 
people  who  died  from  it,  the  attack  of  a  band  of  the  red 
Kaffirs  upon  our  house,  when  by  the  mercy  of  God  we 
beat  them  off,  leaving  twelve  of  their  dead  behind  them, 
but  taking  as  many  of  our  best  oxen,  and  so  forth. 

"  Read,"  I  said,  and  the  interpreter  read  as  follows: 

"  On  the  twelfth  day  of  September  in  the  year  1825  (the 
date  being  written  in  letters)  our  little  daughter  Suzanne 
found  a  starving  English  boy  in  a  kloof,  who  had  been 
shipwrecked  on  the  coast.  We  have  taken  him  in  as  n 
gift  of  the  Lord.  He  says  that  his  name  is  Rolf  Kenzie." 

"  You  see  the  date,"  I  said. 

"  Yes."  answered  the  lawyer,  "  and  it  has  not  been 
altered!" 

"No,"  I  added,  "it  has  not  been  altered;"  but  T  did 


62  SWALLOW 

not  tell  them  that  Jan  had  not  written  it  down  till  after- 
wards, and  then  by  mistake  had  recorded  the  year  in  which 
he  wrote,  refusing  to  change  it,  although  I  pointed  out  the 
error,  because,  he  said,  there  was  no  room,  and  that  it 
would  make  a  mess  in  the  book. 

"  There  is  one  more  thing,"  I  went  on;  "  you  say  the 
mother  of  him  you  seek  was  a  great  lady.  Well,  I  saw 
the  body  of  the  mother  of  the  boy  who  was  found,  and  it 
was  that  of  a  common  person  very  roughly  clad  with  coarse 
underclothes  and  hands  hard  with  labour,  on  which  there 
was  but  one  ring,  and  that  of  silver.  Here  it  is,"  and  going 
to  a  drawer  I  took  from  it  a  common  silver  ring  which 
I  once  bought  from  a  pedlar  because  he  worried  me  into  it. 
"  Lastly,  gentlemen,  the  father  of  our  lad  was  no  lord, 
unless  in  your  country  it  is  the  custom  of  lords  to  herd 
sheep,  for  the  boy  told  me  that  in  his  own  land  his  father 
was  a  shepherd,  and  that  he  was  travelling  to  some  distant 
English  colony  to  follow  his  trade.  That  is  all  I  have  to 
say  about  it,  though  I  am  sorry  that  the  lad  is  not  here  to 
tell  it  you  himself." 

When  he  had  heard  this  statement  of  mine,  which  I 
made  in  a  cold  and  indifferent  voice,  the  young  lord, 
Ralph's  cousin,  rose  and  stretched  himself,  smiling  happily. 

"  Well,"  he  said,  "  there  is  the  end  of  a  very  bad  night- 
mare, and  I  am  glad  enough  that  we  came  here  and  found 
out  the  truth,  for  had  we  not  done  so  I  should  never  have 
been  happy  in  my  mind." 

"  Yes,"  answered  the  lawyer,  the  interpreter  rendering 
their  words  all  the  while,  "  the  Vrouw  Botmar's  evidence 
is  conclusive,  though  I  shall  put  her  statement  in  writing 
and  ask  her  to  sign  it.  There  is  only  one  thing,  and  that 
is  the  strange  resemblance  of  the  names,"  and  he  glanced 
at  him  with  his  quick  eyes. 


THE  SIN  OF   VROUW  BOTMAR  63 

"  There  are  many  Mackenzies  in  Scotland,"  answered 
Lord  Glenthirsk,  "  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  this  poor 
fellow  was  a  shepherd  emigrating  with  his  wife  and  child 
to  Australia  or  somewhere."  Then  he  yawned  and  added, 
'"'  I  am  going  outside  to  get  some  air  before  I  sleep.  Per- 
haps you  will  draw  up  the  paper  for  the  good  lady  to  sign." 

"  Certainly,  my  lord,"  answered  the  lawyer,  and  the 
young  man  went  away  quite  convinced. 

After  he  had  gone  the  lawyer  produced  pen  and  ink  and 
wrote  out  the  statement,  putting  in  it  all  the  lies  that  I 
had  told,  and  copying  the  extract  from  the  fly-leaf  of 
the  Bible.  When  he  had  done  the  interpreter  translated 
it  to  me,  and  then  it  was  that  the  lawyer  told  me  about 
the  last  wishes  of  the  dying  lord,  the  father  of  the  young 
Scotchman,  and  how  it  would  have  cost  him  ten  thousand 
pounds  and  much  business  also  had  the  tale  proved  true. 
Now  at  last  he  gave  me  the  paper  to  sign.  Besides  the 
candles  on  the  table,  which  being  of  mutton  fat  had  burnt 
out,  there  was  a  lamp  fed  with  whale's  oil,  but  this  also 
was  dying,  the  oil  being  exhausted,  so  that  its  flame,  which 
had  sunk  low,  jumped  from  time  to  time  with  a  little 
noise,  giving  out  a  blue  light.  In  that  unholy  blue  light, 
which  turned  our  faces  ghastly  pale,  the  lawyer  and  I 
looked  at  each  other  as  I  sat  before  him,  the  pen  in  my 
hand,  and  in  his  eyes  I  read  that  he  was  certain  that  I  was 
about  to  sign  to  a  wicked  lie,  and  in  mine  he  read  that  I 
knew  it  to  be  a  lie. 

For  a  while  we  stared  at  each  other  thus,  discovering 
each  other's  souls.  "  Sign,"  he  said,  shrugging  his  shoul- 
ders, "  the  light  dies." 

Then  I  signed,  and  as  I  wrote  the  lamp  went  out,  leaving 
us  in  darkness,  and  through  the  darkness  once  more  I  heard 
that  sound  of  laughter  echoing  in  the  air  above  the  house. 


CHAPTEK   VIII 

THE    WISDOM    OF    SUZANNE 

Now,  although  Suzanne  heard  not  a  word  of  our  talk, 
still  she  guessed  its  purport  well  enough,  for  she  knew  that 
I  proposed  to  throw  dust  into  the  eyes  of  the  Englishmen. 
This  troubled  her  conscience  sorely,  for  the  more  she 
thought  of  it  the  more  did  it  seem  to  her  to  be  wicked 
that  just  because  we  loved  him  and  did  not  wish  to  part 
with  him,  Ealph  should  be  cheated  of  his  birthright.  All 
night  long  she  lay  awake  brooding,  and  before  ever  the 
dawn  broke  she  had  settled  in  her  mind  that  she  herself 
would  speak  to  the  Englishmen,  telling  them  the  truth, 
come  what  might  of  her  words,  for  Suzanne,  my  daughter, 
was  a  determined  girl  with  an  upright  heart.  Now  feel- 
ing happier  because  of  her  decision,  at  length  she  fell 
asleep  and  slept  late,  and  as  it  happened  this  accident  of 
fate  was  the  cause  of  the  miscarriage  of  her  scheme. 

It  came  about  in  this  way.  Quite  early  in  the  morning 
— at  sun-up,  indeed — the  Englishmen  rose,  and  coming 
out  of  the  little  guest-chamber,  drank  the  coffee  that  I  had 
made  ready  for  them,  and  talked  together  for  a  while. 
Then  the  young  lord — Ralph's  cousin — said  that  as  they 
journeyed  yesterday  at  a  distance  of  about  an  hour  on 
horseback  from  the  farm  he  had  noticed  a  large  vlei,  or 
pan,  where  were  many  ducks  and  also  some  antelope.  To 


T&E    WISDOM  OF  SUZANNE  65 

this  vlei  he  proposed  to  ride  forward  with  one  servant  only, 
and  to  stay  there  till  the  others  overtook  him,  shooting  the 
wild  things  which  lived  in  the  place,  for  to  be  happy  these 
Englishmen  must  always  be  killing  something.  So  he 
bade  me  farewell,  making  me  a  present  of  the  gold  chain 
which  he  took  off  his  watch,  which  chain  I  still  have.  Then 
'he  rode  away,  smiling  after  his  fashion;  and  as  I  watched 
him  go  I  was  glad  to  think  that  he  was  no  knave  but  only 
an  easy  tool  in  the  hands  of  others.  We  never  met  again, 
but  I  believe  that  death  finished  his  story  many  years  ago; 
indeed,  all  those  of  whom  I  tell  are  dead;  only  Jan  and  I 
survive,  and  our  course  is  well-nigh  run. 

When  Suzanne  awoke  at  length,  having  heard  from  a 
Kaffir  girl  that  the  strangers  had  ordered  their  horses,  but 
not  that  the  young  lord  had  ridden  forward,  she  slipped 
from  the  house  silently,  fearing  lest  I  should  stay  her,  and 
hid  herself  in  a  little  patch  of  bush  at  the  corner  of  the 
big  mealie  field  by  which  she  knew  the  Englishmen  must 
pass  on  their  return  journey.  Presently  she  heard  them 
coming,  and  when  she  saw  that  the  young  lord  was  not 
with  them,  she  went  to  the  lawyer,  who  pulled  up  his  horse 
and  waited  for  her,  the  rest  of  the  party  riding  on,  and 
asked  where  his  master  was,  saying  that  she  wished  to  talk 
with  him.  And  here  I  must  say,  if  I  have  not  said  it 
before,  that  Suzanne  could  speak  English,  though  not  well. 
The  Hollander  tutor  had  instructed  her  in  that  tongue,  in 
which  Ralph  also  would  converse  with  her  at  times  when 
he  did  not  wish  others  to  understand  what  they  were  say- 
ing, for  he  never  forgot  his  mother  language,  though  he 
mixed  many  Dutch  words  with  it. 

"  He  has  ridden  forward  an  hour  or  more  ago.  Can  T  take 
any  message  to  him  for  you?  "  said  the  lawyer.  "  Or  if  you 
wish  to  talk  of  business,  to  speak  to  me  is  to  speak  to  him." 
5 


66  SWALLOW 

"  That  may  be  so,"  answered  Suzanne,  "  still  I  like  to 
draw  my  water  at  the  fountain  itself.  Yet,  as  he  has  gone, 
I  beg  you  to  listen  to  me,  for  when  you  have  heard  what 
I  have  to  say  I  think  that  you  will  bring  him  back.  You 
came  here  about  Ealph  Kenzie,  did  you  not,  and  my 
mother  told  you  that  he  is  not  the  man  whom  you  seek, 
did  she  not?  " 

The  lawyer  nodded. 

"  "Well,  I  tell  you  that  all  this  tale  is  false,  for  he  is  the 
very  man,"  and  she  poured  out  the  true  story  of  Ralph 
and  of  the  plot  that  had  been  made  to  deceive  them  about 
him. 

Now,  as  I  have  said,  Suzanne's  English  was  none  of  the 
best  and  it  is  possible  that  the  lawyer  did  not  understand. 
For  my  part,  however,  I  think  that  he  understood  well 
enough,  for  she  told  me  afterwards  that  his  face  grew  grey 
and  anxious  as  he  listened,  and  that  at  length  he  said: 

"  All  this  you  tell  me  is  very  strange  and  weighty,  so 
much  so  that  I  must  bring  my  friend  back  to  look  more 
closely  into  the  matter.  Return  now  to  the  farm  and  say 
nothing  of  having  met  me,  for  by  this  evening,  or  to- 
morrow at  the  latest,  we  will  come  there  again  and  sift 
out  the  truth  of  the  question." 

To  this  she  agreed,  being  guileless,  and  the  lawyer  rode 
away  after  the  other.  All  that  day  and  all  the  next  Su- 
zanne scarcely  spoke  to  me,  but  I  saw  that  she  was  expect- 
ing something  to  happen,  and  that  she  glanced  continually 
towards  the  path  by  which  the  Englishmen  had  journeyed, 
thinking  to  see  them  riding  back  to  the  farm.  But  they 
rode  back  no  more,  and  I  am  sure  that  the  cunning  lawyer 
never  breathed  one  word  of  his  meeting  with  Suzanne  and 
of  what  took  place  at  it  to  the  young  lord.  That  book 
was  shut  and  it  did  not  please  him  to  reopen  it,  since  to 


THE   WISDOM  OF  SUZANNE  67 

do  so  might  have  cost  him  ten  thousand  pounds.  On  the 
third  morning  I  found  Suzanne  still  looking  down  the 
path,  and  my  patience  being  exhausted  by  her  silence,  I 
spoke  to  her  sharply. 

"  What  are  you  doing,  girl?"  I  asked.  "Have  we  not 
had  enough  visitors  of  late  that  you  must  stand  here  all 
day  awaiting  more?  " 

"  I  seek  no  new  visitors,"  Suzanne  said,  "  but  those  who 
have  been  here  only,  and  I  see  now  that  I  seek  in  vain." 

"  AVhat  do  you  mean,  Suzanne?  " 

Xow  of  a  sudden  she  seemed  to  make  up  her  mind  to 
speak,  for  she  turned  and  faced  me  boldly,  saying: 

"  I  mean,  mother,  that  I  told  the  Englishman  with  the 
red  hair,  the  agent,  that  all  the  fine  tale  you  spun  to  him 
about  Ralph  was  false,  and  that  he  was  the  man  they  came 
to  find." 

"  You  dared  do  that,  girl  ?  "  I  said,  then  checked  my- 
self and  added,  "Well,  what  did  the  man  say?" 

"  He  said  that  he  would  ride  on  and  bring  the  young 
lord  back  that  I  might  talk  with  him,  but  they  have  not 
come." 

"  No,  nor  will  they,  Suzanne,  for  if  they  sought  they 
did  not  wish  to  find,  or  at  least  the  lawyer  did  not  wish 
it,  for  he  had  too  much  at  stake.  Well,  things  have  gone 
finely  with  you,  seeing  that  your  hands  are  clean  from  sin, 
and  that  Ralph  still  stays  at  your  side." 

"  The  sin  of  the  parents  is  the  sin  of  the  child,"  she 
answered,  and  then  of  a  sudden  she  took  fire  as  it  were, 
and  fell  upon  me  and  beat  me  with  her  tongue;  nor  could 
I  hold  my  own  before  this  girl  of  eighteen,  the  truth  being 
that  she  had  right  on  her  side,  and  I  knew  it.  She  told 
me  that  we  were  wicked  plotters  who,  to  pleasure  ourselves, 
had  stolen  from  Ralph  everything  except  his  life  ;  and 


68  SWALLOW 

many  other  such  hard  sayings  she  threw  at  me  till  at  last 
I  could  hear  it  no  more,  but  gave  her  back  word  for  word. 
Indeed,  it  would  be  difficult  to  say  which  had  the  best  of 
that  quarrel,  for  if  Suzanne's  tongue  was  the  nimbler  and 
her  words  were  winged  with  truth,  I  had  the  weight  of 
experience  on  my  side  and  the  custom  of  authority.  At 
last,  as  she  paused  breathless,  I  cried  out: 

"  And  for  whose  sake  was  all  this  done,  you  ungrateful 
chit,  if  it  was  not  for  your  own?  " 

"  If  that  was  so,  which  is  not  altogether  true,"  she  an- 
swered, "  it  would  have  pleased  me  better,  if,  rather  than 
make  me  a  partner  in  this  crime,  and  set  me  as  bait  to 
snare  Ralph,  you  had  left  me  to  look  after  my  own  wel- 
fare." 

"  What!  "  I  exclaimed,  "  are  you  then  so  shallow  hearted 
that  you  were  ready  to  bid  farewell  to  him  who  for  many 
years  has  been  as  your  brother,  and  is  now  your  affianced 
husband?  You  know  well  whatever  he  might  promise 
now,  that  if  once  he  had  gone  across  the  sea  to  England, 
you  would  have  seen  him  no  more." 

"  No,"  she  answered,  growing  calm  of  a  sudden,  "  I  was 
not  so  prepared,  for  sooner  would  I  die  than  lose  Ralph." 

"  How,  then,  do  you  square  this  with  all  your  fine  talk?  " 
I  asked,  thinking  that  at  length  I  had  trapped  her.  "  If 
he  had  gone  you  must  have  lost  him." 

"  Not  so,"  she  answered,  innocently,  "  for  I  should  have 
married  him  before  he  went,  and  then  I  could  have  been 
certain  that  he  would  return  here  whenever  I  wished  it." 

Now  when  I  heard  this  I  gasped,  partly  because  this 
girl's  cleverness  took  the  breath  from  me,  and  partly  with 
mortification  that  I  should  have  lived  to  learn  wisdom 
from  the  mouth  of  a  babe  and  a  suckling.  For  there  was 
no  doubt  of  it,  this  plan,  of  which  I  had  not  even  thought, 


THE    WISDOM  OF  SUZANNE  69 

was  the  answer  to  the  riddle,  since  by  means  of  it  Ralph 
might  have  kept  his  own,  and  we,  I  doubt  not,  should 
have  kept  Ealph.  Once  married  to  Suzanne  he  would 
have  returned  to  her,  or  if  she  had  gone  with  him  for  a 
little  while,  which  might  have  been  better,  she  would  cer- 
tainly have  brought  him  back,  seeing  that  she  loved  us 
and  her  home  too  well  to  forsake  them. 

Yes,  I  gasped,  and  the  only  answer  that  I  could  make 
when  I  reflected  how  little  need  there  had  been  for  the  sin 
which  we  had  sinned,  was  to  burst  into  weeping,  whereon 
Suzanne  ran  to  me  and  kissed  me  and  we  made  friends 
again.  But  all  the  same,  I  do  not  think  that  she  ever 
thought  quite  so  well  of  me  afterwards,  and  if  I  thought 
the  more  of  her,  still  I  made  up  my  mind  that  the  sooner 
she  was  married  and  had  a  husband  of  her  own  to  preach 
to,  the  better  it  would  be  for  all  of  us. 

Thus  ended  the  story  of  the  coming  of  the  Englishmen, 
and  of  how  Ralph  lost  his  wealth  and  rank.  We  never 
heard  or  saw  more  of  them,  seeing  that  in  those  days  be- 
fore the  great  Trek  we  did  not  write  letters,  and  if  we  had 
we  should  not  have  known  where  to  send  them,  nor  did 
the  post-cart  pass  the  door  twice  a  week  as  it  does  in  this 
overcrowded  land  of  Natal. 

Now  I  must  go  on  to  tell  of  the  doings  of  that  devil 
upon  earth,  Swart  Piet,  and  of  how  the  little  Kaffir  witch - 
doctoress,  Sihamba  Ngenyanga,  which  means  She-who- 
walks-by-the-moonlight,  became  the  slave  and  saviour  of 
Suzanne. 

At  this  time  the  Heer  van  Vooren,  Swart  Piet's  father, 
had  been  dead  for  two  years,  and  there  were  strange  stories 
as  to  the  manner  of  his  death  which  I  do  not  think  it 
necessary  to  set  out  here.  Whether  or  no  Swart  Piet  did 


70  SWALLOW 

or  did  not  murder  his  father  I  cannot  say,  nor  does  it 
matter,  for  at  the  least  he  worked  other  crimes  as  had. 
After  the  death  of  the  Heer  van  Vooren,  however  he  may 
have  chanced  to  die,  this  is  certain,  that  Swart  Piet  in- 
herited great  riches  as  we  used  to  reckon  riches  in  those 
days;  that  is,  he  had  vast  herds  of  cattle  and  goats  and 
sheep,  some  of  which  were  kept  for  him  by  native  chiefs 
far  away,  as  much  land  as  he  wanted,  and,  it  was  said, 
a  good  sum  in  English  gold.  But  he  was  a  strange  man, 
not  like  to  other  men,  for  he  married  no  wife  and  courted 
no  misses,  that  is  until  he  took  to  courting  Suzanne,  and 
his  only  pleasure  was  to  keep  the  company  of  Kaffir  chiefs 
and  women  and  to  mix  himself  up  with  the  devilments  of 
the  witch-doctors.  Still,  as  every  man  has  his  fate,  at 
last  he  fell  in  love  with  Suzanne,  and  in  love  with  her  he 
remained  during  all  his  wicked  life,  if  that  can  be  love 
which  seeks  to  persecute  and  bring  misery  upon  its  object. 
It  was  just  before  the  coming  of  the  Englishmen  that  this 
passion  of  his  manifested  itself,  for  whenever  he  met  the 
girl — outside  the  house  for  the  most  part,  since  Jan  did 
not  like  to  have  him  in  it — he  made  sweet  speeches  and 
passed  foolish  pleasantries  which,  to  be  just,  I  am  sure 
Suzanne  never  encouraged,  since  all  her  heart  was  else- 
where. 

Now  Swart  Piet  had  information  of  everything,  for  his 
Kaffir  spies  brought  it  to  him  ;  therefore  he  very  soon 
learned  that  Jan  and  Ealph  had  gone  away  with  the  cattle 
to  the  warm  veldt,  and  that  we  two  women  were  alone  in 
the  house.  This  was  his  opportunity,  and  one  of  which 
he  availed  himself,  for  now  two  or  three  times  a  week  he 
would  ride  over  from  his  place,  take  supper  and  ask  leave 
to  sleep,  which  it  was  difficult  to  refuse,  all  this  time 
wearying  the  poor  girl  with  his  attentions.  At  last  I 


THE   WISDOM  OF  SUZANNE  71 

spoke  my  mind  to  him  about  it, 'though  not  without  hesi- 
tation, for  to  tell  truth  Swart  Piet  was  one  of  the  few  men 
of  whom  I  have  ever  been  afraid.  He  listened  to  me 
politely  and  answered: 

"  All  this  is  very  true,  Aunt,  but  if  you  desire  a  fruit 
and  it  will  not  fall,  then  you  must  shake  the  tree." 

"What  if  it  sticks  to  the  bough?"  I  asked. 

"  Then,  Aunt,  you  must  climb  the  tree  and  pluck  it." 

"  And  what  if  by  that  time  it  is  in  another  man's 
pouch  ?  " 

"  Then,  Aunt,"  he  answered  with  one  of  those  dark 
smiles  that  turned  my  blood  cold,  "  then,  Aunt,  the  best 
thing  which  you  can  do  is  to  kill  the  other  man  and  take 
it  out,  for  after  that  the  fruit  will  taste  all  the  sweeter." 

"  Get  you  gone,  Swart  Piet,"  I  said  in  anger,  "  for  no 
man  who  talks  thus  shall  stay  in  my  house,  and  it  is  very 
well  for  you  that  neither  my  husband  nor  Ralph  Kenzie 
are  here  to  put  you  out  of  it." 

"Well,"  he  answered,  they  are  not  here,  are  they  ?"  And 
as  for  your  house,  it  is  a  pretty  place;  but  I  only  seek  one 
thing  in  it,  and  that  is  not  built  into  the  walls.  I  thank 
you  for  your  hospitality,  Aunt,  and  now,  good-day  to  you." 

"  Suzanne!  "  I  called,  "  Suzanne!  "  for  I  thought  that 
she  was  in  her  chamber;  but  the  girl,  knowing  that  Piet 
van  Vooren  was  here,  had  slipped  out,  and  of  this  he  was 
aware.  He  knew,  moreover,  where  she  had  gone,  for  I 
think  that  one  of  his  Kaffir  servants  was  watching  outside 
and  told  him,  and  thither  he  followed  her  and  made  love 
to  her. 

In  the  end — for  he  would  not  be  put  off — he  asked  her 
for  a  kiss,  whereat  she  grew  angry.  Then,  for  he  was  no 
shy  wooer,  he  tried  to  take  it  by  force;  but  she  was  strong 
and  active  and  slipped  from  him.  Instead  of  being 


72  SWALLOW 

ashamed,  he  only  laughed  after  his  uncanny  fashion,  and 
said: 

"  Well,  missy,  you  have  the  best  of  me  now,  but  I  shall 
win  that  kiss  yet.  Oh!  I  know  all  about  it;  you  love  the 
English  castaway,  don't  you?  But  there,  a  woman  can 
love  many  men  in  her  life,  and  when  one  is  dead  another 
will  serve  her  turn." 

"  What  do  you  mean,  myn  Heer  van  Vooren  ?  "  asked 
Suzanne,  afraid. 

"  Mean  ?  Nothing,  but  that  I  shall  win  that  kiss  yet, 
yes,  and  before  very  long." 


CHAPTER   IX 

HOW    SUZANNE    SAVED    SIHAMBA 

Now  in  a  valley  of  the  hills,  something  over  an  hour's 
ride  from  the  farm,  and  not  far  from  the  road  that  ran 
to  Swart  Piet's  place,  lived  the  little  Kaffir  witch-doc- 
toress,  Sihamba  Ngenyanga.  This  woman  did  not  be- 
long to  any  of  the  Transkei  or  neighbouring  tribes,  but 
had  drifted  down  from  the  North;  indeed,  she  was  of 
Swazi  or  some  such  blood,  though  why  she  left  her  own 
people  we  did  not  know  at  that  time.  In  appearance  Si- 
hamba was  very  strange,  for,  although  healthy,  perfectly 
shaped  and  copper-coloured  rather  than  black,  she  was  no 
taller  than  a  child  of  twelve  years  old — a  thing  that  made 
many  people  believe  that  she  was  a  bush  woman,  which 
she  most  certainly  was  not.  For  a  Kaffir  also  she  was 
pretty,  having  fine  small  features,  beautiful  white  teeth, 
and  a  fringe  of  wavy  black  hair  that  stood  out  stiffly  round 
her  head  something  after  the  fashion  of  the  gold  plates 
which  the  saints  wear  in  the  pictures  in  our  old  Bible. 

This  woman  Sihamba,  who  might  have  been  a  little 
over  thirty  years  of  age,  had  been  living  in  our  neighbour- 
hood for  some  three  or  four  years  and  practising  as  a  doc- 
toress.  Not  that  she  was  a  "  black "  doctoress,  for  she 
never  took  part  in  the  "  smell  ing-out "  of  human  beings 
for  witchcraft  or  in  the  more  evil  sort  of  rites.  Her  trade 


74  SWALLOW 

was  to  sell  charms  and  medicines  to  the  sick,  also  to  cure 
animals  of  their  ailments,  at  which,  indeed,  she  was  very 
clever,  though  there  was  some  who  said  that  when  she 
chose  she  could  "  throw  the  bones  "  and  tell  the  future 
better  than  most,  and  this  without  dressing  herself  up  in 
bladders  and  snake  skins,  or  falling  into  fits,  or  trances, 
and  such  mummery.  Lastly,  amongst  the  natives  about, 
and  some  of  the  Boers  too,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  she  had  the 
reputation  of  being  the  best  of  rainmakers,  and  many  were 
the  head  of  cattle  that  she  earned  by  prophesying  the 
break-up  of  a  drought,  or  the  end  of  continual  rains.  In- 
deed, it  is  certain  that  no  one  whom  I  ever  knew  had  so 
great  a  gift  of  insight  into  the  omens  of  the  weather  at  all 
seasons  of  the  year,  as  this  strange  Sihamba  Ngenyanga, 
a  name  that  she  got,  by  the  way,  because  of  her  habit  of 
wandering  about  in  the  moonlight  to  gather  the  herbs  and 
the  medicine  roots  which  she  used  in  her  trade. 

On  several  occasions  Jan  had  sent  animals  to  be  doctored 
by  this  Sihamba,  for  she  would  not  come  out  to  attend  to 
them  whatever  fee  was  offered  to  her.  At  first  I  did 
not  approve  of  it,  but  as  she  always  cured  the  animals, 
whatever  their  ailments  might  be,  I  gave  in  on  the 
matter. 

Now  it  happened  that  a  few  months  before  some  trav- 
eller who  had  guested  at  our  house  gave  Suzanne  a  little 
rough-haired  dog  bred  of  parents  which  had  been  brought 
from  England.  Of  this  dog  Suzanne  grew  very  fond,  and 
when  it  fell  sick  of  the  distemper  she  was  much  distressed. 
So  it  came  about  that  one  afternoon  Suzanne  put  the  dog 
in  a  basket,  and  taking  with  her  an  old  Hottentot  to  carry 
it,  set  out  upon  her  grey  mare  for  the  valley  where  Si- 
hamba lived.  Now  Sihamba  had  her  hut  and  the  huts  of 
the  few  people  in  her  service  in  a  recess  at  the  end  of  the 


HOW  SUZANNE  SAVED  SIHAMBA  75 

valley,  so  placed  that  until  you  were  quite  on  to  them  you 
would  never  have  guessed  that  they  were  there.  Down 
this  valley  Suzanne  rode,  the  Hottentot  with  the  basket 
on  his  head  trotting  by  her  side,  till  turning  the  corner 
she  came  upon  a  scene  which  she  had  very  little  expected. 
In  one  part  of  the  open  space  beyond  her,  herded  by  some 
Kaffirs,  were  a  number  of  cattle,  sheep  and  goats.  Oppo- 
site to  them  in  the  shadow  under  the  hillside  stood  the 
huts  of  Sihamba,  and  in  front  of  these  grew  a  large  tree. 
Beneath  this  tree  was  Sihamba  herself  with  scarcely  any 
clothing  on  her,  for  she  had  been  stripped,  her  tiny  wrists 
bound  together  behind  her  back  and  a  rope  about  her 
neck,  of  which  one  end  was  thrown  over  a  bough  of  the 
tree.  In  front  of  her,  laughing  brutally,  stood  none  other 
than  Swart  Piet  and  with  him  a  small  crowd  of  men, 
mostly  half-breed  wanderers  of  the  sort  that  trek  from 
place  to  place  claiming  hospitality  on  the  grounds  of 
cousinship  or  poverty,  until  they  are  turned  off  as  nui- 
sances. Also  there  were  present  a  few  Kaffirs,  either  head- 
men in  Swart  Piet's  pay  or  some  of  his  dark  associates  in 
witchcraft. 

At  first  Suzanne  was  inclined  to  turn  her  horse  and  fly, 
but  she  was  a  brave  girl,  and  the  perilous  state  of  the  little 
doctoress  moved  her  to  pity,  for  where  Swart  Piet  was 
there  she  suspected  cruelty  and  wicked  motive.  So  she 
rode  on,  yes,  straight  up  to  Swart  Piet  himself. 

"  In  the  name  of  Heaven  what  passes  here,  myn  Heer?  " 
she  asked. 

"Ah!  Miss  Suzanne,  is  it  you?"  he  answered.  "Well, 
you  have  not  chosen  a  nice  time  for  your  visit,  for  we  are 
about  to — hang — this  thief  and  witch,  who  has  been  duly 
convicted  after  a  fair  trial." 

"  A  fair  trial,"  said  Suzanne,  glancing  scornfully  at  the 


76  SWALLOW 

rabble  about  her,  "  and  were  these  friends  of  yours  the 
jury?  What  is  her  offence?  " 

"  Her  offence  is  that  she  who  lives  here  on  my  land  has 
stolen  my  cattle  and  hid  them  away  in  a  secret  kloof.  It 
has  been  proved  against  her  by  ample  evidence.  There 
are  the  cattle  yonder  mixed  up  with  her  own.  I,  as  Veld- 
Cornet  of  the  district,  have  tried  the  case  according  to  law, 
and  the  woman  having  been  found  guilty  must  die  accord- 
ing to  law." 

"  Indeed,  myn  Heer,"  said  Suzanne,  "  then  if  I  under- 
stand you  right,  you  are  both  accuser  and  judge,  and  the 
law  which  permits  this  is  one  that  I  never  heard  of.  Oh!  " 
she  went  on  angrily,  "  no  wonder  that  the  English  sing  a 
loud  song  about  us  Boers  and  our  cruelty  to  the  natives 
when  such  a  thing  as  this  can  happen.  It  is  not  justice, 
myn  Heer;  it  is  a  crime  for  which,  if  you  escape  the  hand 
of  man,  God  will  bring  you  to  account." 

Then  for  the  first  time  Sihamba  spoke  in  a  very  quiet 
voice,  which  showed  no  sign  of  fear. 

"  You  are  right,  lady,"  she  said;  "  it  is  not  justice,  it  is 
a  crime  born  of  revenge,  and  my  life  must  pay  forfeit  for 
his  wickedness.  I  am  a  free  woman;  and  I  have  harmed 
none  and  have  bewitched  none.  I  have  cured  sick  people 
and  sick  creatures,  that  is  all.  The  Heer  says  that  I  live 
upon  his  land,  but  I  am  not  his  slave;  I  pay  him  rent  to 
live  here.  I  never  stole  his  cattle  ;  they  were  mixed  up 
with  mine  by  his  servants  in  a  far-off  kloof  in  order  to 
trump  up  a  charge  against  me,  and  he  knows  it,  for  he 
gave  orders  that  the  thing  should  be  done,  so  that  after- 
wards he  might  have  the  joy  of  hanging  me  to  this  tree, 
because  he  wishes  to  be  avenged  upon  me  for  other  mat- 
ters, private  matters  between  me  and  him.  But,  lady,  do 
not  trouble  yourself  about  the  fate  of  such  a  poor  black 


HOW  SUZANNE  SAVED  SIHAMBA  77 

creature  as  I  am.  Go  away  and  tell  the  story  if  you  will, 
but  go  quickly,  for  these  sights  of  death  are  not  fit  for 
young  eyes  like  yours  to  see." 

"  I  will  not  go,"  exclaimed  Suzanne,  "  or  if  I  go,  it  shall 
be  to  bring  down  upon  you,  Swart  Piet,  the  weight  of  the 
law  which  you  have  broken.  Ah!  would  that  my  father 
were  at  home;  he  does  not  love  Kaffirs  but  he  does  love 
justice." 

Now  when  they  heard  Suzanne  speaking  such  bold  words 
and  saw  the  fire  in  her  eyes,  Swart  Piet  and  those  with  him 
began  to  grow  afraid.  The  hanging  of  a  witch-doctoress 
after  a  formal  trial  upon  the  charge  of  theft  of  cattle  was 
no  great  matter  in  those  days,  for  such  thefts  were  common 
and  a  cause  of  much  trouble  to  out-lying  farmers,  nor 
would  anyone  in  these  half-settled  regions  be  likely  to  look 
too  closely  into  the  rights  and  wrongs  of  an  execution  on 
account  of  them.  But  if  a  white  person  who  was  present 
went  away  to  proclaim  to  the  authorities,  perhaps  even  to 
the  Governor  of  the  Cape,  whose  ear  could  always  be  won 
through  the  missionaries  of  the  London  Society,  that  this 
pretended  execution  was  nothing  but  a  murder,  then  the 
thing  became  serious.  From  the  moment  that  Suzanne 
began  to  speak  on  behalf  of  Sihamba,  Swart  Piet  had  seen 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  hang  her  unless  he  wished 
to  risk  his  own  neck.  But  he  guessed  also  that  the  girl 
could  not  know  this,  and  therefore  he  determined  to  make 
terms  by  working  on  her  pity,  such  terms  as  should  put 
her  to  shame  before  all  those  gathered  there;  yes,  and 
leave  something  of  a  stain  upon  her  heart  for  so  long  as 
she  should  live. 

"  I  do  not  argue  law  with  young  ladies,"  he  said,  with 
a  little  laugh,  "but  I  am  always  ready  to  oblige  young 
ladies,  especially  this  young  lady.  Now,  yonder  witch  and 


78  SWALLOW 

cattle-thief  has  richly  earned  her  doom,  yet,  because  you 
ask  it,  Suzanne  Botmar,  I  am  ready  to  withdraw  the  prose- 
cution against  her,  and  to  destroy  the  written  record  of  it 
in  my  hand,  on  two  conditions,  of  which  the  first  is  that 
she  pays  over  to  me  by  way  of  compensation  for  what  she 
has  stolen,  all  her  cattle  and  other  belongings.  Do  you 
consent  to  that,  witch?  " 

"  How  can  I  refuse  ?  "  said  Sihamba,  with  a  bitter  laugh, 
"  seeing  that  if  I  do  you  will  take  both  life  and  goods. 
But  what  is  the  second  condition?" 

"  I  am  coming  to  that,  witch,  but  it  has  nothing  to  do 
with  you.  Suzanne,  it  is  this:  that  here,  before  all  these 
people,  as  the  price  of  this  thief's  life,  you  give  me  the 
kiss  which  you  refused  to  me  the  other  day." 

Now,  before  Suzanne  could  answer,  Sihamba  broke  in 
eagerly,  "  Nay,  lady,  let  not  your  lips  be  stained  and  your 
heart  be  shamed  for  the  sake  of  such  as  I.  Better  that  I 
should  die  than  that  you  should  suffer  defilement  at  the 
hands  of  Swart  Piet,  who,  born  of  white  blood  and  black, 
is  false  to  both  and  a  disgrace  to  both." 

"  I  cannot  do  it,"  gasped  Suzanne,  turning  pale  and  not 
heeding  her  outburst,  "  and,  Heer  van  Yooren,  you  are  a 
coward  to  ask  it  of  me." 

"  Can't  you  ?  "  he  sneered.  "  Well,  you  need  not,  unless 
you  please,  and  it  is  true  that  young  women  like  best  to 
be  kissed  alone.  Here,  you  Kaffirs,  pull  that  little  devil 
up;  slowly  now,  that  she  may  learn  what  a  tight  string  feels 
like  about  her  throat  before  it  chokes  her." 

In  obedience  to  his  command  three  of  the  evil  fellows 
with  him  caught  hold  of  the  end  of  the  rope  which  hung 
over  the  bough,  and  began  to  pull,  dragging  the  light  form 
of  Sihamba  upwards  till  only  the  tips  of  her  big  toes 
touched  the  ground. 


HOW  SUZANNE  SAVED  SIHAMBA  79 

"Doesn't  she  dance  prettily?"  said  Swart  Piet  with  a 
brutal  laugh,  at  the  same  time  motioning  to  the  men  to 
keep  her  thus  a  while. 

Now  Suzanne  looked  at  the  blackening  lips  and  the 
little  form  convulsed  in  its  death  struggle,  and  could  bear 
the  sight  no  more. 

"Let  her  down!"  she  cried,  and,  springing  from  the  sad- 
dle, for  all  this  while  she  had  been  seated  upon  her  horse, 
she  walked  up  to  Piet,  saying,  "  Take  what  you  seek,  but 
oh!  for  your  sake  I  wish  to  God  that  my  lips  were  poison." 

"  No,  no,"  gasped  Sihamba,  who  now  was  lying  half 
choked  upon  the  ground. 

"  That  is  not  our  bargain,  dear,"  said  Piet;  "  it  is  that 
you  should  kiss  me,  not  I  you." 

Again  Suzanne  shrank  back,  and  again  at  his  signal  the 
men  began  to  pull  upon  the  rope.  Then  seeing  it,  with 
her  face  as  pale  as  death,  she  leant  forward  and  touched 
his  lips  with  hers,  whereon  he  seized  her  round  the  middle, 
and,  drawing  her  to  him,  covered  her  with  kisses  till  even 
the  brutes  with  him  called  to  him  not  to  push  his  jest  too 
far  and  to  let  the  girl  go.  This  he  did,  uttering  words 
which  I  will  not  repeat,  and  so  weak  was  Suzanne  with 
shame  that  when  his  arms  were  taken  from  round  her  she 
fell  to  the  ground,  and  lay  there  till  the  old  Hottentot, 
her  servant,  ran  to  her,  cursing  and  weeping  with  rage, 
and  helped  her  to  her  feet.  For  a  while  she  stood  saying 
nothing,  only  wiping  her  face,  as  though  filth  had  bespat- 
tered it,  with  the  sun  l-opje  which  had  fallen  from  her 
head,  and  her  face  was  whiter  than  the  white  cap.  At 
last  she  spoke  in  a  hoarse  voice: 

"  Loose  that  woman,"  she  said,  "  who  has  cost  me  my 
honour." 

They  obeyed  her,  and  snatching  up  her  skin  rug  Si- 


80  SWALLOW 

hamba  turned  and  fled  swiftly  down  the  valley.  Then 
Suzanne  went  to  her  horse,  but  before  she  mounted  it  she 
looked  Swart  Piet  straight  in  the  eyes.  At  the  time  he 
was  following  her,  begging  her  not  to  be  angry  at  a  joke, 
for  his  madness  was  satisfied  for  a  while  and  had  left  him. 
But  she  only  looked  in  answer,  and  there  was  something 
so  terrible  to  him  in  the  dark  eyes  of  this  young  unfriended 
girl  that  he  shrank  back,  seeing  in  them,  perhaps,  the 
shadow  of  fate  to  come.  Then  Suzanne  rode  away,  and 
Swart  Piet,  having  commanded  his  ruffians  to  fire  the  huts 
of  Sihamba,  and  to  collect  her  people,  goods,  and  cattle, 
went  away  also. 

Just  at  the  mouth  of  the  valley  something  stirred  in  a 
bush,  causing  the  horse  to  start,  so  that  Suzanne,  who  was 
thinking  of  other  things,  slipped  from  it  to  the  ground. 
Next  moment  she  saw  that  it  was  Sihamba,  who  knelt  be- 
fore her,  kissing  her  feet  and  the  hem  of  her  robe. 

"  Bise,"  she  said  kindly;  "  what  has  been  cannot  be 
helped,  and  at  least  it  was  no  fault  of  yours." 

"  Nay,  Swallow,"  said  Sihamba,  for  I  think  I  have  said 
that  was  the  name  which  the  natives  had  given  to  Suzanne 
from  childhood,  I  believe,  because  of  the  grace  of  her 
movements  and  her  habit  of  running  swiftly  hither  and 
thither — "  Nay,  Swallow,  in  a  way  it  was  my  fault." 

"  What  do  you  mean,  Sihamba  ?  " 

"  I  mean,  Swallow,  that  although  I  am  so  small  some 
have  thought  me  pretty,  and  the  real  reason  of  Black  Piet's 
hate  for  me  is — but  why  should  I  defile  your  ears  with  the 
tale?" 

"  They  would  only  match  my  face  if  you  did,"  answered 
Suzanne  grimly,  "but  there  is  no  need;  I  can  guess  well 
enough." 

"You  can  guess,  Swallow;  then  you  will  see  why  it  was 


HOW  SUZANNE  SAVED  SIIIAMBA  81 

my  fault.  Yes,  yes,  you  will  see  that  what  I,  a  black 
woman,  who  am  less  than  dirt  in  the  eyes  of  your  people, 
would  not  do  to  save  my  own  life;  you,  a  white  chief - 
tainess,  and  the  fairest  whom  we  know,  have  done  of  your 
own  will  to  keep  it  in  me." 

"  If  the  act  was  good,"  answered  Suzanne,  "  may  it  go 
to  my  credit  in  the  Book  of  the  Great  One  who  made  us." 

"  It  will  go  to  your  credit,  Swallow,"  answered  Sihamba 
with  passion,  "  both  in  that  Book  and  in  the  hearts  of  all 
who  hear  this  story,  but  most  of  all  in  this  heart  of  mine. 
Oh!  listen,  lady;  sometimes  a  cloud  comes  over  me,  and  in 
that  cloud  I  who  was  born  a  doctoress  see  visions  of  things 
that  are  to  happen,  true  visions.  Among  them  I  see  this: 
tbat  many  moons  hence  and  far  away  I  shall  live  to  save 
you  as  you  have  saved  me,  but  between  that  day  and  this 
the  cloud  of  the  future  is  black  to  my  eyes,  black  but 
living." 

"  It  may  be  so,"  answered  Suzanne,  "  for  I  have  heard 
that  you  have  the  Sight.  And  now,  farewell;  you  had  best 
seek  out  some  friends  among  your  people  and  hide  your- 
self." 

"  My  people,"  said  Sihamba;  "  then  I  must  seek  long, 
for  they  are  very,  very  far  away,  nor  do  they  desire  to  see 
me." 

"Why  not?" 

"  Because  as  it  chances  I  am  by  blood  their  ruler,  for  T 
am  the  only  child  of  my  father's  head-wife.  But  they 
would  not  have  me  set  over  them  as  chieftainess  unless  I 
married  a  man,  and  towards  marriage  I  have  no  wish,  for 
I  am  different  from  other  women,  both  in  body  and  heart. 
So  having  quarrelled  with  them  on  this  and  another  matter 
of  policy  I  set  out  to  seek  my  fortune  and  left  them  to 
theirs." 


82  SWALLOW 

"  Your  fortune  was  not  a  good  one,  Sihamba,  for  it  led 
you  to  Swart  Piet  and  the  rope." 

"  Nay,  lady,  it  led  me  to  the  Swallow  and  freedom;  no, 
not  to  freedom  but  to  slavery,  for  I  am  your  slave,  whose 
life  you  have  bought  at  a  great  price.  Now  I  have  nothing 
left  in  the  world;  Swart  Piet  has  taken  my  cattle  which  I 
earned  cow  by  cow  and  bred  up  heifer  by  heifer,  and  save 
for  the  wit  within  my  brain  and  this  kaross  upon  my 
shoulders,  I  have  nothing." 

"What,  then,  will  you  do,  Sihamba?" 

"  What  you  do,  Swallow,  that  I  shall  do,  for  am  I  not 
your  slave  bought  at  a  great  price?  I  will  go  home  with 
you  and  serve  you,  yes,  to  my  life's  end." 

"  That  would  please  me  well  enough,  Sihamba,  but  I  do 
not  know  how  it  would  please  my  father." 

"  What  pleases  you  pleases  him,  Swallow;  moreover,  I 
can  save  my  food  twice  over  by  curing  his  cattle  and  horses 
in  sickness,  for  in  such  needs  I  have  skill." 

"  Well,"  she  said,  "  come,  and  when  my  father  returns 
we  will  settle  how  it  shall  be." 


CHAPTER    X 

THE    OATH    OF    SIHAMBA 

SUZANNE  came  home  and  told  me  her  story,  and  when 
I  heard  it  I  was  like  a  mad  woman;  indeed,  it  would  have 
gone  ill  with  Swart  Piet's  eyes  and  hair  if  I  could  have 
fallen  in  with  him  that  night. 

"  Wait  till  your  father  returns,  girl,"  I  said. 

"  Yes,  mother,"  she  answered,  "  I  wait  for  him — and 
Ralph." 

"  What  is  to  be  done  with  the  little  doctoress,  Si- 
hamba?"  I  asked,  adding,  "I  do  not  like  such  people 
about  the  place." 

"  Let  her  bide  also  till  the  men  come  back,  mother,"  she 
answered,  "  and  then  they  will  see  to  it.  Meanwhile  there 
is  an  empty  hut  down  by  the  cattle  kraal  where  she  can 
live." 

So  Sihamba  stopped  on  and  became  a  body  servant  to 
Suzanne,  the  best  I  ever  saw,  though  she  would  do  no 
other  work  save  that  of  attending  to  sick  animals. 

Ten  days  afterwards  Jan  and  Ralph  returned  safe  and 
sound,  leaving  some  Kaffirs  in  charge  of  the  cattle  in  the 
bush-veldt.  Very  glad  we  were  to  see  them,  since,  putting 
everything  else  aside,  it  was  lonely  work  for  two  women 
upon  the  place  with  no  neighbour  at  hand,  and  in  those 
days  to  be  lonely  meant  to  be  in  danger. 


84  SWALLOW 

When  we  were  together  Jan's  first  question  to  me  was: 

"  Have  those  Englishmen  been  here  ?  " 

"  They  have  been  here/'  I  answered,  "  and  they  have 
gone  away." 

Jan  asked  me  nothing  more  of  the  matter,  for  he  did  not 
wish  to  know  what  had  passed  between  us.  Only  he  looked 
at  me  queerly,  and,  as  I  think,  thought  the  worse  of  me 
afterwards,  for  he  found  out  that  Suzanne  and  I  had  quar- 
relled about  the  song  I  sang  in  the  ears  of  the  English- 
men, and  what  that  song  was  he  could  guess  very  well. 
Yes,  yes,  although  he  had  been  a  party  to  the  fraud,  in  his 
heart  Jan  put  all  the  blame  of  it  upon  me,  for  that  is  the 
way  of  men  who  are  mean,  and  always  love  to  say  "  The 
woman  tempted  me,"  a  vile  habit  which  has  come  down 
to  them  with  their  blood. 

Meanwhile  another  talk  was  passing  between  Ealph  and 
Suzanne.  They  had  rushed  to  meet  each  other  like  two 
separated  colts  bred  in  the  same  meadow,  but  when  they 
came  together  it  was  different.  Ealph  put  out  his  arms  to 
embrace  her,  but  she  pushed  him  back  and  said,  "  No,  not 
until  we  have  spoken  together." 

"  This  is  a  cold  greeting,"  said  Ealph,  amazed  and 
trembling,  for  he  feared  lest  Suzanne  should  have  changed 
her  mind  as  to  their  marriage.  "  What  is  it  that  you  have 
to  tell  me?  Speak  on,  quickly." 

"  Two  things,  Ealph,"  she  answered,  and  taking  the 
least  of  them  first,  she  plunged  straightway  into  a  full 
account  of  the  coming  of  the  Englishmen,  of  all  that  had 
passed  then,  and  of  her  quarrel  with  me  upon  the  matter. 

"  And  now,  Ealph,"  she  ended,  "  you  will  understand 
that  you  have  been  cheated  of  your  birthright,  and  this  I 
think  it  just  that  you  should  know,  so  that,  if  you  will, 
you  may  change  your  mind  about  staying  here,  for  there 


85 

is  yet  time,  and  follow  these  Englishmen  to  wherever  it  is 
they  have  gone,  to  claim  from  them  your  heritage." 

Ralph  laughed  and  answered,  "  Why,  Sweet,  I  thought 
that  we  had  settled  all  this  long  ago.  That  your  mother 
did  not  tell  the  men  quite  the  truth  is  possible,  but  if  she 
played  with  it,  it  was  for  the  sake  of  all  of  us  and  with  my 
leave.  Let  them  go  and  the  fortune  with  them,  for  even 
if  I  could  come  to  England  and  find  it  there,  I  should  be 
but  as  a  wild  buck  in  a  sheep  kraal,  out  of  place  and  un- 
happy. Moreover,  we  should  be  separated,  dear,  for  even 
if  you  would  all  consent,  I  could  never  take  you  from  your 
own  people  and  the  land  where  you  were  born.  So  now 
that  there  is  an  end  to  this,  once  and  for  ever,  let  me  kiss 
you  in  greeting,  Suzanne." 

But  she  shook  her  head  and  denied  him,  saying,  "  No, 
for  I  have  another  tale  to  tell  you,  and  an  uglier — so  ugly 
indeed  that  after  the  hearing  of  it  I  doubt  much  whether 
you  will  wish  to  kiss  me  any  more." 

"  Be  swift  with  it  then,"  he  answered,  "  for  you  torment 
me,"  and  she  began  her  story. 

She  told  how  that,  after  he  had  gone  away,  Swart  Piet 
began  to  persecute  her;  how  he  had  wished  to  kiss  her  and 
she  had  refused  him,  so  that  he  left  her  with  threats. 
Then  she  paused  suddenly  and  said: 

"  And  now,  before  I  finish  the  story,  you  shall  swear  an 
oath  to  me.  You  shall  swear  that  you  will  not  attempt  to 
kill  Swart  Piet  because  of  it." 

At  first  he  would  swear  nothing,  for  already  he  was  wild 
with  anger  against  the  man,  whereupon  she  answered  that 
she  would  tell  him  nothing. 

At  last,  when  they  had  wrangled  for  a  while,  he  asked 
her  in  a  hoarse  voice,  "  Say  now,  Suzanne,  have  you  come 
to  any  harm  at  the  hands  of  this  fellow?  " 


86  SWALLOW 

"  No,"  she  answered,  turning  her  head  away.  "  God  be 
thanked!  I  have  come  to  no  harm  of  my  body,  but  of  my 
mind  I  have  come  to  great  harm." 

Now  he  breathed  more  freely  and  said: 

"  Very  well,  then,  go  on  with  your  story,  for  I  swear  to 
you  that  I  will  not  try  to  kill  Swart  Piet  because  of  this 
offence,  whatever  it  may  be." 

So  she  went  on,  setting  out  everything  exactly  as  it  had 
happened,  and  before  she  had  finished  Ealph  was  as  one 
who  is  brain  sick,  for  he  ground  his  teeth  and  stamped 
upon  the  earth  like  an  angry  bull.  At  last,  when  Suzanne 
had  told  him  all,  she  said: 

"  Now,  Ealph,  you  will  understand  why  I  would  not 
let  you  kiss  me  before  you  had  heard  my  story.  It  was 
because  I  feared  that  after  hearing  it  you  would  not  wish 
to  kiss  me  any  more." 

"  You  talk  like  a  foolish  girl,"  he  answered,  taking  her 
into  his  arms  and  embracing  her,  "  and  though  the  insult 
can  only  be  paid  back  in  blood,  I  think  no  more  of  it 
than  if  some  beast  had  splashed  mud  into  your  face,  which 
you  had  washed  away  at  the  next  stream." 

"  Ah!  "  she  cried,  "  you  swore  that  you  would  not  try 
to  kill  him  for  this  offence." 

"  Yes,  Sweet,  I  swore,  and  I  will  keep  my  oath.  This 
time  I  will  not  try  to  kill  Swart  Piet." 

Then  they  went  into  the  house,  and  Ralph  spoke  to  Jan 
about  this  matter,  of  which  indeed  I  had  already  told  him 
something.  Jan  also  was  very  angry,  and  said  that  if  he 
could  meet  Piet  van  Vooren  it  would  go  hard  with  him. 
Afterwards  he  added,  however, that  this  Piet  was  a  very  dan- 
gerous man,  and  one  whom  it  might  be  well  to  leave  alone, 
especially  as  Suzanne  had  taken  no  real  hurt  from  him. 

Nowadays,  and  here  in  Natal,  such  a  villain  could  be 


THE  OATH  OF  SIHAMBA  •     87 

made  to  answer  to  the  law,  either  for  attempting  the  life  of 
the  Kaffir,  or  for  the  assault  upon  the  girl,  or  for  both,  but 
in  those  times  it  was  different.  Then  the  Transkei  had  but 
few  white  people  in  it,  living  far  apart,  nor  was  there  any 
law  to  speak  of;  indeed  each  man  did  what  was  right  in 
his  own  eyes,  according  to  the  good  or  evil  that  was  in  his 
heart.  Therefore,  as  Jan  said,  it  was  not  well  to  make  a 
deadly  enemy  of  one  who  was  restrained  by  the  fear  of 
neither  God  nor  man,  and  who  had  great  wealth  and  power, 
since  it  might  come  about  that  he  would  work  murder  in 
revenge  or  raise  the  Kaffirs  on  us,  as  he  who  had  authority 
among  them  could  do  very  easily.  Indeed  as  will  be  seen 
he  did  both  these  things,  or  tried  to  do  them. 

When  his  anger  had  cooled  a  little  Jan  spoke  to  us  in 
this  sense  and  we  women  agreed  with  him;  but  Ealph,  who 
was  young,  fearless,  and  full  of  rage,  set  his  mouth  and 
said  nothing. 

As  for  Sihamba  Jan  wished  to  send  her  away,  but  Su- 
zanne, who  had  grown  fond  of  her,  begged  him  that  he 
would  not  do  so,  at  least  until  he  had  spoken  with  her.  So 
he  ordered  one  of  the  slaves  to  fetch  her,  and  presently  the 
little  woman  came, and  having  saluted  him,  sat  herself  down 
on  the  floor  of  the  sitting  room  after  the  Kaffir  fashion. 
She  was  a  strange  little  creature  to  see  in  her  fur  kaross 
and  bead  broidered  girdle,  but  for  a  native  she  was  very 
clean  and  pretty,  with  her  wise  woman's  face  set  upon  a 
body  that  had  it  been  less  rounded  might  almost  have  been 
that  of  a  child.  Also  she  had  adorned  herself  with  great 
care,  not  in  the  cast-off  clothes  of  white  people  but  after 
her  own  manner,  for  her  wavy  hair  which  stood  out  from 
her  head  was  powdered  over  with  that  sparkling  blue  dust 
which  the  Kaffir  women  use,  and  round  her  neck  she  wore 
a  single  string  of  large  blue  beads. 


88  SWALLOW 

At  first  Jan  spoke  to  her  crossly,  saying: 

"  You  have  brought  trouble  and  disgrace  upon  my 
house,  Sihamba,  and  I  wish  you  to  begone  from  it." 

"It  is  true,"  she  answered,  "but  not  of  my  own  will 
did  I  bring  the  trouble,  0  Father  of  Swallow,"  for  so 
she  always  called  Jan.  Indeed,  for  Sihamba,  Suzanne  was 
the  centre  of  all  things,  and  thus  in  her  mouth  the  three 
of  us  had  no  other  names  than  "  Father  "  or  "  Mother  " 
or  "  Lover  "  of  Swallow. 

"  That  may  be  so,"  answered  Jan,  "  but,  doubtless, 
Black  Piet,  who  hates  you,  will  follow  you  here,  and  then 
we  shall  be  called  upon  to  defend  you,  and  there  will  be 
more  trouble." 

"  It  is  not  I  whom  Black  Piet  will  follow,"  she  replied, 
"  for  he  has  stolen  all  I  have,  and  as  my  life  is  safe  there 
is  nothing  more  to  get  from  me,"  and  she  looked  at 
Suzanne. 

"  What  do  you  mean,  Sihamba  ?  Speak  plain  words," 
said  Jan. 

"  I  mean,"  she  answered,  "  that  it  is  not  I  who  am  now 
in  danger,  but  my  mistress,  the  Swallow,  for  he  who  has 
kissed  her  once  will  wish  to  kiss  her  again." 

Now  at  this  Ealph  cursed  the  name  of  Swart  Piet  aloud, 
and  Jan  answered, 

"  It  is  a  bullet  from  my  roer  that  he  shall  kiss  if  he  tries 
it,  that  I  swear." 

"  I  hope  it  may  be  so,"  said  Sihamba;  "  yet,  Father  of 
Swallow,  I  pray  you  send  me  not  away  from  her  who 
bought  me  at  a  great  price,  and  to  whom  my  life  belongs. 
Look;  I  cost  you  but  little  to  keep,  and  that  little  I  can 
earn  by  doctoring  your  horses  and  cattle,  in  which  art  I 
have  some  skill,  as  you  know  well.  Moreover  I  have  many 
eyes  and  ears  that  can  see  and  hear  things  to  which  yours 


THE  OATH  OF  SIHAMBA  89 

arc  deaf  and  blind,  and  I  tell  you  that  I  think  a  time  will 
come  when  I  shall  be  able  to  do  service  to  all  of  you  who 
are  of  the  nest  of  the  Swallow.  Xow,  if  she  bids  me  to 
go  I  will  go — for  am  I  not  her  servant  to  obey  ? — yet  I  be- 
seech you  do  not  so  command  her." 

Sihamba  had  risen  as  she  spoke,  and  now  she  stood  be- 
fore Jan,  her  head  thrown  back,  looking  up  into  his  eyes 
with  such  strange  power  that,  though  he  was  great  and 
strong  and  had  no  will  to  it,  yet  he  found  himself  forced 
to  look  down  into  hers.  More,  as  he  told  me  afterwards, 
he  saw  many  things  in  the  eyes  of  Sihamba,  or  it  may  be 
that  he  thought  that  he  saw  them,  for  Jan  was  always 
somewhat  superstitious.  At  least  this  is  true  that  more 
than  once  during  the  terrible  after  years,  when  some  great 
event  had  happened  to  us  he  would  cry  out,  "  I  have  seen 
this  place,  or  thing,  before,  I  know  not  where."  Then  if 
I  bade  him  think  he  would  answer,  "  Xow  I  remember;  it 
was  in  the  eyes  of  Sihamba  that  I  saw  it,  yonder  in  the 
Transkei  before  Balph  and  Suzanne  were  married." 

Presently  she  freed  his  eyes  and  turned  her  head, 
whereon  Jan  grew  pale  and  swayed  as  though  he  were  about 
to  fall.  Recovering  himself,  however,  he  said  shortly. 

"  Stay  if  you  will,  Sihamba;  you  are  welcome  for  so  long 
as  it  shall  please  you." 

She  lifted  her  little  hand  and  saluted  him,  and  I  noticed 
that  it  was  after  another  fashion  to  that  of  the  Kaffirs  who 
lived  thereabouts,  after  the  Zulu  fashion  indeed. 

"  I  hear  your  words,  chief,"  she  said,  "  and  I  stay. 
Though  I  be  but  as  a  lizard  in  the  thatch,  yet  the  nest 
of  the  Swallow  shall  be  my  nest,  and  in  the  fangs  of  the 
lizard,  Sihamba,  there  is  poison  and  woe  to  the  hawk  of 
the  air  or  the  snake  of  the  grass  that  would  rob  this  nest 
wherein  vou  dwell.  Listen  now  to  mv  oath — vou  whom 


90  SWALLOW 

she  loves.  Cold  shall  this  heart  be  and  stiff  this  hand, 
empty  shall  this  head  be  of  thought  and  these  eyes  of 
sight,  before  shame  or  death  shall  touch  the  swift  wings 
of  yonder  Swallow  who  stained  her  breast  for  me.  Ke- 
member  this  always,  you  whom  she  loves,  that  while  I  live, 
I,  Sihamba  Ngenyanga,  Sihamba  the  walker  by  moonlight, 
she  shall  live,  and  if  she  dies  I  will  die  also." 

Then  once  more  she  saluted  and  went,  leaving  us  won- 
dering, for  we  saw  that  this  woman  was  not  altogether  as 
other  Kaffirs  are,  and  it  came  into  our  minds  that  in  the 
time  of  need  she  would  be  as  is  a  sharp  spear  in  the  hand 
of  one  who  is  beset  with  foes. 

That  night  as  we  lay  abed  I  talked  with  Jan,  saying: 

"  Husband,  I  think  there  are  clouds  upon  our  sky,  which 
for  many  years  has  been  so  blue.  Trouble  gathers  round 
us  because  of  the  beauty  of  Suzanne,  and  I  fear  Swart  Piet, 
for  he  is  not  a  man  to  be  stopped  by  a  trifle.  Now,  Kalph 
loves  Suzanne  and  Suzanne  loves  Ealph,  and,  though  they 
are  young,  they  are  man  and  woman  full  grown,  able  to 
keep  a  house  and  bear  its  burdens.  Why  then  should  they 
not  marry  with  as  little  delay  as  may  be,  for  when  once 
they  are  wed  Van  Vooren  will  cease  from  troubling  them, 
knowing  his  suit  to  be  hopeless?" 

"  As  you  will,  wife,  as  you  will,"  Jan  answered  some- 
what sharply,  "  but  I  doubt  if  we  shall  get  rid  of  our 
dangers  thus,  for  with  you  I  think  that  the  tide  of  our 
lives  has  turned,  and  that  it  sets  towards  sorrow.  Ay," 
he  went  on,  sitting  up  in  the  bed,  "  and  I  will  tell  you 
when  it  turned;  it  turned  upon  the  day  that  you  lied  to 
the  Englishmen." 


CHAPTER   XI 

A   FIGHT   AND   A    SHOT 

EARLY  the  next  morning  I  sought  for  Ralph  to  speak 
to  him  on  the  matter  of  his  marriage,  which,  to  tell  truth, 
I  longed  to  see  safely  accomplished.  But  I  could  not  find 
him  anywhere,  or  learn  where  he  had  gone,  though  one  of 
the  slaves  told  me  that  they  had  seen  him  mount  his  horse 
at  the  stable. 

I  went  down  to  the  cattle  kraal  to  look  if  he  were  there, 
and  as  I  returned,  I  saw  Sihamba  seated  by  the  door  of 
her  hut  engaged  in  combing  her  hair  and  powdering  it 
with  the  shining  blue  dust. 

"  Greeting,  Mother  of  Swallow,"  she  said.  "  Whom  do 
you  seek  ?  " 

"  You  know  well,"  I  answered. 

"  Yes,  I  know  well.  At  the  break  of  dawn  he  rode  over 
yonder  rise." 

"  Why?  "  I  asked. 

"How  can  I  tell  why?  But  Swart  Piet  lives  out 
yonder." 

"Had  he  his  gun  with  him?"  I  asked  again  and 
anxiously. 

"  No,  there  was  nothing  but  a  sjambock,  a  very  thick 
sjambock,  in  his  hand." 

Then  I  went  back  to  the  house  with  a  heavy  heart,  for  I 


92  SWALLOW 

was  sure  that  Ralph  had  gone  to  seek  Piet  van  Vooren, 
though  I  said  nothing  of  it  to  the  others.  So  it  proved 
indeed.  Ealph  had  sworn  to  Suzanne  that  he  would  not 
try  to  kill  Piet,  but  here  his  oath  ended,  and  therefore  he 
felt  himself  free  to  beat  him  if  he  could  find  him,  for  he 
was  altogether  mad  with  hate  of  the  man.  Now  he  knew 
that  when  he  was  at  home  it  was  Swart  Piet's  habit  to  ride 
of  a  morning,  accompanied  by  one  Kaffir  only,  to  visit  a 
certain  valley  where  he  kept  a  large  number  of  sheep. 
Thither  Ralph  made  his  way,  and  when  he  reached  the 
place  he  saw  that,  although  it  was  time  for  them  to  be 
feeding,  the  sheep  were  still  in  their  kraal,  baa-ing,  stamp- 
ing, and  trying  to  climb  the  gate,  for  they  were  hungry  to 
get  at  the  green  grass. 

"  So,"  thought  Ralph,  "  Swart  Piet  means  to  count  the 
flock  out  himself  this  morning.  He  will  be  here 
presently." 

Half  an  hour  afterwards  he  came  sure  enough,  and  with 
him  the  one  Kaffir  as  was  usual.  Then  the  bars  of  the  gate 
were  let  down,  and  the  sheep  suffered  to  escape  through 
them,  Swart  Piet  standing  upon  one  side  and  the  Kaffir 
upon  the  other,  to  take  tale  of  their  number.  When  all  the 
sheep  were  out,  and  one  of  the  herds  had  been  brought 
before  him  and  beaten  by  the  Kaffir,  because  some  lambs 
were  missing,  Swart  Piet  turned  to  ride  homewards,  and 
in  a  little  gorge  near  by  came  face  to  face  with  Ralph, 
who  was  waiting  for  him.  Now  he  started  and  looked  to 
see  if  he  could  escape,  but  there  was  no  way  of  doing  it 
without  shame,  so  he  rode  forward  and  bid  Ralph  good- 
day  boldly,  asking  him  if  he  had  ever  seen  a  finer  flock  of 
sheep. 

"  I  did  not  come  here  to  talk  of  sheep,"  answered  Ralph, 
eyeing  him. 


A   FIGHT  AND  A   SHOT  98 

"  Is  it  of  a  lamb,  then,  that  you  come  to  talk,  Heer 
Kenzie,  a  ewe  lamb,  the  only  one  of  your  flock?  "  sneered 
Piet,  for  he  had  a  gun  in  his  hand  and  he  saw  that  Ealph 
had  none. 

"  Aye,"  said  Ealph,  "  it  is  of  a  white  ewe  lamb  whose 
fleece  has  been  soiled  by  a  bastard  thief  who  would  have 
stolen  her/'  and  he  looked  at  him. 

"  I  understand,"  said  Piet  coldly,  for  he  was  a  bold  man; 
"  and  now,  Heer  Kenzie,  you  had  best  let  me  ride  by/* 

"  Why  should  I  let  you  ride  by  when  I  have  come  out 
to  seek  you?" 

"  For  a  very  good  reason,  Heer  Kenzie;  because  I  have 
a  gun  in  my  hand  and  you  have  none,  and  if  you  do  not 
clear  the  road  presently  it  may  go  off." 

"  A  good  reason,  indeed,"  said  Ralph,  "  and  one  of 
which  I  admit  the  weight,"  and  he  drew  to  one  side  of 
the  path  as  though  to  let  Piet  pass,  which  he  began  to  do 
holding  the  muzzle  of  the  gun  in  a  line  with  the  other's 
head.  Ralph  sat  upon  his  horse  staring  moodily  at  the 
ground,  as  though  he  was  trying  to  make  up  his  mind  to 
say  something  or  other,  but  all  the  time  he  was  watching 
out  of  the  corner  of  his  quick  eye.  Just  as  Swart  Piet  drew 
past  him,  and  was  shaking  the  reins  to  put  his  horse  to  a 
canter,  Ralph  slid  from  the  saddle,  and  springing  upon 
him  like  light,  he  slipped  his  strong  arm  round  him  and 
dragged  him  backwards  to  the  ground  over  the  crupper  of 
the  horse.  As  Piet  fell  he  stretched  out  his  hands  to  grip 
the  saddle  and  save  himself,  so  that  the  gun  which  he  car- 
ried resting  on  his  knees  dropped  upon  the  grass.  Ralph 
seized  it  and  fired  it  into  the  air;  then  he  turned  to  face 
his  enemy,  who  by  this  time  had  found  his  feet. 

"  Xow  we  are  more  equally  matched,  myn  Heer  van 
Vooren,"  he  said,  "  and  can  talk  further  about  that  ewe 


94  SWALLOW 

lamb,  the  only  one  of  the  flock.  Nay,  you  need  not  look 
for  the  Kaffir  to  help  you,  for  he  has  run  after  your  horse, 
and  at  the  best  he  will  hardly  care  to  trust  himself  between 
two  angry  white  men.  Come,  let  us  talk,  myn  Heer." 

Black  Piet  made  no  answer,  so  for  a  while  the  two  stood 
facing  each  other,  and  they  were  a  strange  pair,  as  different 
as  the  light  from  the  darkness.  Ealph  fair-haired,  grey- 
eyed,  stern-faced,  with  thin  nostrils,  that  quivered  like 
those  of  a  well-bred  horse,  narrow-flanked,  broad-chested, 
though  somewhat  slight  of  limb  and  body,  for  he  was 
but  young,  and  had  scarcely  come  to  a  man's  weight,  but 
lithe  and  wiry  as  a  tiger.  Piet  taller  and  more  massive, 
for  he  had  the  age  of  him  by  five  years,  with  round  Kaffir 
eyes,  black  and  cruel,  coarse  black  hair  that  grew  low  upon 
his  brow,  full  red  lips,  the  lower  drooping  so  that  the  large 
white  teeth  and  a  line  of  gums  could  be  seen  within. 
Great-limbed  he  was  also,  firm-footed  and  bull-strengthed, 
showing  in  his  face  the  cruelty  and  the  cunning  of  a  black 
race,  mingled  with  the  mind  and  mastery  of  the  white;  an 
evil  and  a  terrible  man,  knowing  no  lord  save  his  own  pas- 
sions, and  no  religion  but  black  witchcraft  and  vile  super- 
stition; a  foe  to  be  feared  indeed,  but  one  who  loved  better 
to  stab  in  the  dark  than  to  strike  in  the  open  day. 

"  Well,  myn  Heer  van  Vooren,"  mocked  Ralph,  "  you 
could  fling  your  arms  about  a  helpless  girl  and  put  her 
to  shame  before  the  eyes  of  men,  now  do  the  same  by  me 
if  you  can,"  and  he  took  one  step  towards  him. 

"What  is  this  monkey's  chatter?"  asked  Piet,  in  his 
slow  voice.  "  Is  it  because  I  gave  the  girl  a  kiss  that  you 
would  fix  a  quarrel  upon  me?  Have  you  not  done  as  much 
yourself  many  times,  and  for  a  less  stake  than  the  life  of 
one  who  has  been  doomed  to  die?" 

"  If  I  have  kissed  her,"  answered  Ealph,  "  it  is  with  her 


A  FIGHT  AND  A  SHOT  95 

consent,  and  because  she  will  be  my  wife;  but  you  worked 
upon  her  pity  to  put  her  to  shame  and  now  you  shall  pay 
the  price  of  it.  Do  you  see  that  whip?"  and  he  nodded 
toward  the  sjambock  that  was  lying  on  the  grass.  "  Let 
him  who  proves  the  best  man  use  it  upon  the  other." 

"  Will  be  your  wife "  sneered  Piet,  "  the  wife  of  the 

English  castaway!  She  might  have  been,  but  now  she 
never  shall,  unless  she  cares  to  wed  a  carcase  cut  into  rim- 
pis.  You  want  a  flogging,  and  you  shall  have  it,  yes, 

to  the  death,  but  Suzanne  shall  be not  your  wife 

but " 

He  got  no  further,  for  at  that  moment  Ralph  sprang  at 
him  like  a  wild  cat,  stopping  his  foul  mouth  with  a  fearful 
blow  upon  the  lips.  Then  there  followed  a  dreadful 
struggle  between  these  two.  Swart  Piet  rushed  again  and 
again,  striving  to  clasp  his  antagonist  in  his  great  arms 
and  crush  him,  whereas  Ralph,  who,  like  all  Englishmen, 
loved  to  use  his  fists,  and  knew  that  he  was  no  match  for 
Piet  in  strength,  sought  to  avoid  him  and  plant  blow  after 
blow  upon  his  face  and  body.  This,  indeed,  he  did  with 
such  success  that  soon  the  Boer  was  covered  with  blood 
and  bruises.  Again  and  again  he  charged  at  him,  roaring 
with  pain  and  rage,  and  again  and  again  Ralph  first  struck 
and  then  slipped  to  one  side. 

At  length  Piet's  turn  came,  for  Ralph  in  leaping  back 
caught  his  foot  against  a  stone  and  stumbled,  and  before 
he  could  recover  himself  the  iron  arms  were  round  his 
middle,  and  they  were  wrestling  for  the  mastery. 

Still,  at  the  first  it  was  Ralph  who  had  the  best  of  it, 
for  he  was  skilful  at  the  game,  and  before  Swart  Piet 
could  put  out  his  full  strength  he  tripped  him  so  that  he 
fell  heavily  upon  his  back,  Ralph  still  locked  in  his  arms. 
But  he  could  not  keep  him  there,  for  the  Boer  was  the 


96  SWALLOW 

stronger;  moreover,  as  they  fought  they  had  worked  their 
way  up  the  steep  side  of  the  kloof  so  that  the  ground  was 
against  him.  Thus  it  came  about  that  soon  they  began 
to  roll  down  hill  fixed  to  each  other  as  though  by  ropes, 
and  gathering  speed  at  every  turn.  Doubtless,  the  end  of 
this  would  have  been  Ealph's  defeat,  and  perhaps  his 
death,  for  I  think  that,  furious  as  he  was,  Black  Piet  would 
certainly  have  killed  him  had  he  found  himself  the  master. 
But  it  chanced  that  his  hand  was  stayed,  and  thus.  Near 
the  bottom  of  the  slope  lay  a  sharp  stone,  and  as  they  rolled 
in  their  fierce  struggle,  Piet's  head  struck  against  this 
stone  so  that  for  a  few  moments  he  was  rendered  helpless. 
Feeling  the  grip  of  his  arms  lessen,  Ralph  freed  himself, 
and  running  to  the  sjambock  snatched  it  from  the  ground, 
Now  Piet  sat  up  and  stared  at  him  stupidly,  but  he  made 
no  effort  to  renew  the  fight,  whereon  Ralph  gasped: 

"  I  promised  you  a  flogging,  but  since  it  is  chance  that 
has  conquered  you  more  than  I,  I  will  take  no  advantage 

of  it,  save  this "  and  he  struck  him  once  or  twice  across 

the  face  with  the  whip,  but  not  so  as  to  draw  blood,  and 
added:  "  Xow,  at  least,  I  am  free  from  a  certain  promise 
that  I  made — that  I  would  not  kill  you — and  should  you 
attempt  further  harm  or  insult  towards  Suzanne  Botmar, 
kill  you  I  will,  Piet  van  Vooren." 

At  first  Swart  Piet  did  not  seem  to  feel  the  blows,  but 
presently  he  awoke,  as  it  were,  and  touched  his  cheeks 
where  the  sjambock  had  struck  him  as  though  to  assure 
himself  that  he  was  not  dreaming  some  evil  dream.  Then 
he  spoke  in  a  hollow,  unnatural  voice.  "  You  have  won 
for  this  time,  Ralph  Kenzie,"  he  said,  "  or,  rather,  Fate 
fighting  for  you  has  won.  But  it  would  have  been  better 
for  you  and  your  dear  also,  if  you  had  never  struck  those 
blows,  for  I  tell  you,  Ralph  Kenzie,  that  as  your  whip 


A   FIGHT  AND  A   SHOT  97 

touched  me  something  broke  in  my  brain,  and  now  I  think 
that  I  am  mad." 

"  Mad  or  bad,  it  is  all  one  to  me,"  replied  Ealph.  "  You 
have  had  your  warning,  and  you  had  best  keep  sane  enough 
to  remember  it."  Then  turning  he  went  to  his  horse, 
which  was  standing  close  by,  mounted  and  rode  away, 
the  other  answering  him  nothing. 

Still  Ealph  did  not  get  home  without  another  adven- 
ture, for  when  he  had  gone  a  little  way  he  came  to  a  stream 
that  ran  from  a  hillside  which  was  thick  with  trees,  and 
here  he  stopped  to  doctor  his  hurts  and  bruises,  since  he 
did  not  wish  to  appear  at  the  house  covered  with  blood. 
Now  this  was  a  foolish  enough  thing  to  do,  seeing  the  sort 
of  man  with  whom  he  had  to  deal,  and  that  there  was  bush 
where  anyone  could  hide  to  within  a  hundred  and  twenty 
yards  of  his  washing  place.  So  it  proved  indeed,  for  just 
as  Ealph  had  mounted  his  horse  and  was  about  to  ride  on, 
he  felt  a  sharp  stinging  pain  across  his  shoulders,  as 
though  someone  had  hit  him  on  the  back  with  a  stick,  and 
heard  the  sound  of  a  gunshot  fired  from  the  cover  of  the 
bush,  for  there  above  the  green  leaves  hung  a  cloud  of 
smoke. 

"  That  is  Swart  Piet  who  has  crept  round  to  cut  me  oil," 
Ealph  thought  to  himself,  and  for  a  moment  was  minded 
to  ride  to  the  smoke  to  seek  him.  Then  he  remembered 
that  he  had  no  gun,  and  that  that  of  his  enemy  might  be 
loaded  again  before  he  found  him,  and  judged  it  wisest  to 
canter  into  the  open  plain  and  so  homewards.  Of  the 
hurt  which  he  had  taken  from  the  bullet  lie  thought  little, 
yet  when  he  reached  the  house  it  was  seen  that  his  escape 
had  been  narrow  indeed,  for  the  great  ball  had  cut  through 
his  clothes  beneath  his  shoulders,  so  that  they  hung  down 
leaving  his  back  naked.  Also  it  had  furrowed  the  skin, 


98  SWALLOW 

causing  the  blood  to  flow  copiously,  and  making  so  hor- 
rible a  sight  of  him  that  Suzanne  nearly  fainted  when  she 
saw  it.  For  my  part  I  made  certain  that  the  lad  was  shot 
through  the  body,  although,  as  it  turned  out,  in  a  week, 
except  for  some  soreness  he  was  as  well  as  ever. 

Now  this  matter  caused  no  little  stir  among  us,  and  Jan 
was  so  angry  that,  without  saying  a  word  to  anyone,  he 
mounted  his  horse  and,  taking  some  armed  servants  with 
him,  set  out  to  seek  Black  Piet,  but  not  to  find  him,  for 
the  man  had  gone,  nobody  knew  whither.  Indeed  this  was 
as  well,  or  so  we  thought  at  the  time,  for  though  Jan  is 
slow  to  move,  when  once  he  is  moved  he  is  a  very  angry 
man,  and  I  am  sure  that  if  he  had  met  Piet  van  Vooren 
that  day  the  grasses  would  have  been  richer  by  the  blood 
of  one  or  both  of  them.  But  he  did  not  meet  him  and  so 
the  thing  passed  over,  for  afterwards  we  remembered  that 
Ralph  had  been  the  agressor,  since  no  one  would  take 
count  of  this  story  of  the  kissing  of  a  girl,  and  also  that 
there  was  no  proof  at  all  that  it  was  Piet  who  had  at- 
tempted his  life,  as  that  shot  might  have  been  fired  by 
anyone. 

Now  from  this  day  forward  Suzanne  went  in  terror  of 
Swart  Piet,  and  whenever  Ealph  rode,  he  rode  armed,  for 
though  it  was  said  that  he  had  gone  on  one  of  his  long 
journeys  trading  among  the  Kaffirs,  both  of  them  guessed 
that  they  had  not  seen  the  last  of  Van  Vooren.  Jan  and 
I  were  afraid  also,  for  we  knew  the  terrible  nature  of  the 
man  and  of  his  father  before  him,  and  that  they  came  of 
a  family  which  never  forgot  a  quarrel  or  left  a  desire 
ungratified. 

About  fourteen  days  after  Ealph  had  been  shot  at  and 
wounded,  a  Kaffir  brought  a  letter  for  Jan,  which,  on 
being  opened,  proved  to  have  been  written  by  Swart  Piet, 


A  FIGHT  AND  A  SHOT  99 

or  on  his  behalf,  since  his  name  was  set  at  the  bottom  of 
it.     It  read  thus: — 

"  To  THE  HEER  JAN  BOTMAR. 

"  Well-beloved  Heer,  this  is  to  tell  you  that  your  daugh- 
ter, Suzanne,  holds  my  heart,  and  that  I  desire  to  make 
her  my  wife.  As  it  is  not  convenient  for  me  to  come  to 
see  you  at  present,  I  write  to  ask  you  that  you  will  consent 
to  our  betrothal.  I  will  make  a  rich  woman  of  her  as  I 
can  easily  satisfy  you,  and  you  will  find  it  better  to  have 
me  as  a  dear  son-in-law  and  friend  than  as  a  stranger  and 
an  enemy,  for  I  am  a  good  friend  and  a  bad  enemy.  I 
know  there  has  been  some  talk  of  love  between  Suzanne 
and  the  English  foundling  at  your  place;  but  I  can  over- 
look that,  although  you  may  tell  the  lad  that  if  he  is  im- 
pertinent to  me  again  as  he  was  the  other  day,  he  will  not 
for  the  second  time  get  off  with  a  whipping  only.  Be  so 
good  as  to  give  your  answer  to  the  bearer,  who  will  pass  it 
on  to  those  that  can  find  me,  for  I  am  travelling  about  on 
business,  and  do  not  know  where  I  shall  be  from  day  to 
day.  Give  also  my  love  to  Suzanne,  your  daughter,  and 
tell  her  that  I  think  often  of  the  time  when  she  shall  be 
my  wife. 

"  I  am,  well-beloved  Heer,  your  friend, 

"  PlET   VAN    VOOREN." 

Now,  when  Ralph  had  finished  reading  this  letter  aloud, 
for  it  had  been  given  to  him  as  the  best  scholar  among  us, 
you  might  have  thought  there  were  four  crazy  people  in 
the  room,  so  great  was  our  rage.  Jan  and  Ralph  said  little 
indeed,  though  they  looked  white  and  strange  with  anger, 
and  Suzanne  not  over  much,  for  it  was  I  who  talked  for 
all  of  them. 


100  SWALLOW 

"  What  is  your  answer,,  girl  ?  "  asked  her  father  presently 
with  an  angry  laugh. 

"  Tell  the  Heer  Piet  van  Vooren,"  she  replied,  smiling 
faintly,  "  that  if  ever  his  lips  should  touch  my  face  again 
it  will  be  only  when  that  face  is  cold  in  death.  Oh! 
Ralph,"  she  cried,  turning  to  him  suddenly  and  laying 
her  hand  upon  his  breast,  "  it  may  be  that  this  man  will 
bring  trouble  and  separation  on  us;  indeed,  my  heart 
warns  me  of  it,  but,  whatever  chances,  remember  my 
words,  dead  I  may  be,  but  faithful  I  shall  be — yes,  to 
death  and  through  death." 

"  Son,  take  pen  and  write,"  said  Jan  before  Ralph  could 
answer.  So  Ralph  wrote  down  these  words  as  Jan  told 
them  to  him: 

"  PIET  VAN  VOOREN, 

"  Sooner  would  I  lay  my  only  child  out  for  burial  in 
the  grave  than  lead  her  to  the  house  of  a  coloured  man, 
a  consorter  with  witch-doctors  and  black  women  and  a 
would-be  murderer.  That  is  my  answer,  and  I  add  this 
to  it.  Set  no  foot  within  a  mile  of  my  house,  for  here  we 
shoot  straighter  than  you  do,  and  if  we  find  you  on  this 
place,  by  the  help  of  God  we  will  put  a  bullet  through 
your  carcase." 

At  the  foot  of  this  writing,  which  he  would  not  suffer 
to  be  altered,  Jan  printed  his  name  in  big  letters;  then  he 
went  out  to  seek  the  messenger,  whom  he  found  talking 
to  Sihamba,  and  having  given  him  the  paper  bade  him 
begone  swiftly  to  wherever  it  was  he  came  from.  The 
man,  who  was  a  strong  red-coloured  savage,  marked  with 
a  white  scar  across  the  left  cheek,  and  naked  except  for 
bis  moocha  and  the  kaross  rolled  up  upon  his  shoulders, 
took  the  letter,  hid  it  in  his  bundle,  and  went. 


A  FIGHT  AND  A  SHOT  101 

Jan  also  turned  to  go,  but  I  who  had  followed  him  and 
was  watching  him,  although  he  did  not  know  it,  saw  him 
hesitate  and  stop. 

"  Sihamba,"  he  said,  "  why  were  you  talking  to  that 
man?" 

"  Because  it  is  my  business  to  know  of  things,  Father 
of  Swallow,  and  I  wished  to  learn  whence  he  came." 

"Did  he  tell  you  then?" 

"  Not  altogether,  for  someone  whom  he  fears  had  laid  a 
weight  upon  his  tongue,  but  I  learned  that  he  lives  at  a 
kraal  far  away  in  the  mountains,  and  that  this  kraal  is 
owned  by  a  white  man  who  keeps  wives  and  cattle  at  it, 
although  he  is  not  there  himself  just  now.  The  rest  I 
hope  to  hear  when  Swart  Piet  sends  him  back  again,  for 
I  have  given  the  man  a  medicine  to  cure  his  child,  who 
is  sick,  and  he  will  be  grateful  to  me." 

"  How  do  you  know  that  Swart  Piet  sent  the  man  ?  " 
asked  Jan. 

She  laughed  and  said:  "  Surely  that  was  easy  to  guess; 
it  is  my  business  to  twine  little  threads  into  a  rope." 

Again  Jan  turned  to  go  and  again  came  back  to  speak 
to  her. 

"  Sihamba,"  he  said,  "  I  have  seen  you  talking  to  that 
man  before.  I  remember  the  scar  upon  his  face." 

"  The  scar  upon  his  face  you  may  remember,"  she  an- 
swered, "  but  you  have  not  seen  us  talking  together,  for 
until  this  hour  we  never  met." 

"  I  can  swear  it,"  he  said  angrily.  "  I  remember  the 
straw  hut,  the  shape  of  the  man's  bundle,  the  line  where 
the  shadow  fell  upon  his  foot,  and  the  tic-bird  that  came 
and  sat  near  you.  I  remember  it  all." 

"Surely.  Father  of  Swallow,"  Sihamba  replied,  eyeing 
him  oddly,  "  you  talk  of  what  you  have  just  seen." 


102  SWALLOW 

"  No,  no,"  lie  said,  "  I  saw  it  years  ago." 

"Where?"  she  asked,  staring  at  him. 

He  started  and  uttered  some  quick  words.  "  I  know 
now,"  he  said.  "  I  saw  it  in  your  eyes  the  other  day." 

"  Yes,"  she  answered  quietly,  "  I  think  that,  if  any- 
where, you  saw  it  in  my  eyes,  since  the  coming  of  this 
messenger  is  the  first  of  all  the  great  things  that  are  to 
happen  to  the  Swallow  and  to  those  who  live  in  her  nest. 
I  do  not  know  the  things;  still,  it  may  happen  that  another 
who  has  Vision  may  see  them  in  the  glass  of  my  eyes." 


CHAPTER    XII 

WHAT   THE    COW    SHOWED   ZINTI 

TWELVE  days  passed,  and  one  morning  when  I  went  out 
to  feed  the  chickens,  I  saw  the  red  Kaffir  with  the  scar  on 
his  face  seated  beyond  the  stoep  taking  snuff. 

"What  is  it?"  I  asked. 

"  A  letter/'  he  answered,  giving  me  a  paper. 

I  took  it  into  the  house,  where  the  others  were  gathered 
for  breakfast,  and  as  before  Ralph  read  it.  It  was  to  this 
effect : 

"  WELL-BELOVED  HEEK  BOTMAR, — I  have  received  your 
honoured  letter,  and  I  think  that  the  unchristian  spirit 
which  it  shows  cannot  be  pleasing  to  our  Lord.  Still,  as 
I  seek  peace  and  not  war,  I  take  no  offence,  nor  shall  I 
come  near  your  place  to  provoke  the  shedding  of  the 
blood  of  men.  I  love  your  daughter,  but  if  she  rejects  me 
for  another,  I  have  nothing  more  to  say,  except  that  I  hope 
she  may  be  happy  in  the  life  she  has  chosen.  For  me,  I 
am  leaving  this  part  of  the  country,  and  if  you,  Heer  Bot- 
mar,  like  to  buy  my  farm,  I  shall  be  happy  to  sell  it  to  you 
at  a  fair  price;  or  perhaps  the  Ileer  Kenzie  will  buy  it  to 
live  on  after  he  is  married;  if  so,  he  can  write  to  me  by  this 
messenger.  Farewell." 

Now,  when  they  heard  this  letter,  the  others  looked 
more  happy;  but  for  my  part  I  shook  my  head,  seeing 
guile  in  it,  since  the  tone  of  it  was  too  humble  for  Swart 


104  SWALLOW 

Piet.  There  was  no  answer  to  it,  and  the  messenger  went 
away,  but  not,  as  I  learned,  before  he  had  seen  Sihamba. 
It  seems  that  the  medicine  which  she  gave  him  had  cured 
his  child,  for  which  he  was  so  grateful  that  he  drove  her 
down  a  cow  in  payment,  a  fine  beast,  but  very  wild,  for 
handling  was  strange  to  it;  moreover,  it  had  been  but  just 
separated  from  its  calf.  Still,  although  she  questioned 
him  closely,  the  man  would  tell  Sihamba  but  little  of  the 
place  where  he  lived,  and  nothing  of  the  road  to  it. 

Here  I  will  stop  to  show  how  great  was  the  cunning  of 
this  woman,  and  yet  how  simple  the  means  whereby  she 
obtained  the  most  of  her  knowledge.  She  desired  to  learn 
about  this  hiding-place,  since  she  was  sure  that  it  was  one 
of  the  secret  haunts  of  Swart  Piet,  but  when  she  asked 
him  the  messenger  grew  deaf  and  blind,  and  she  could 
find  no  one  else  who  knew  anything  of  the  matter.  Still 
she  was  certain  that  the  cow  which  had  been  brought  to 
her  would  show  the  way  to  its  home,  if  there  were  anybody 
to  follow  it  thither  and  make  report  of  the  path. 

Now  when  Sihamba  had  been  robbed  and  sentenced  to 
death  by  Swart  Piet,  the  most  of  her  servants  and  people 
who  lived  with  her  had  been  taken  by  him  as  slaves.  Still 
two  or  three  had  escaped,  cither  then  or  afterwards,  and 
settled  about  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  farm  where  they 
knew  tli at  their  mistress  dwelt.  From  among  these  people, 
who  still  did  her  service,  she  chose  a  young  man  named 
Zinti,  who,  although  he  was  supposed  to  be  stupid,  was 
still  very  clever  about  many  things,  especially  the  remem- 
bering of  any  path  that  he  had  once  trodden,  and  of  every 
kopje,  stream,  or  pan  by  which  it  could  be  traced.  This 
youth  she  bade  to  herd  the  cow  which  had  been  given  her, 
telling  him  to  follow  it  whithersoever  it  should  wander, 
even  if  it  led  him  a  ten  days'  journey,  and  when  he  saw 


WHAT  THE  COW  SHOWED  ZINTI  105 

that  it  had  reached  home,  to  return  himself  without  being 
seen,  and  to  give  to  her  an  exact  report  of  the  road  which 
it  had  travelled. 

Xow  all  happened  as  Sihamba  expected,  for  on  the  first 
day  that  the  cow  was  turned  out,  watched  by  the  lad,  who 
was  provided  with  food  and  a  blanket,  so  soon  as  it  had 
filled  itself  it  started  straight  over  the  hills,  running  at 
times,  and  at  times  stopping  to  graze,  till  night  came  on. 
Then  it  lay  down  for  a  while  and  its  herd  beside  it,  for  he 
had  tied  his  wrist  to  its  tail  with  a  rimpi  lest  it  should 
escape  in  the  darkness. 

At  the  first  breaking  of  the  light  the  cow  rose,  filled 
itself  with  grass  and  started  forward  on  its  homeward  path, 
followed  by  Zinti.  For  three  days  they  travelled  thus,  the 
herd  milking  the  cow  from  time  to  time  when  its  udder 
was  full.  On  the  evening  of  the  third  day,  however,  the 
beast  would  not  lie  down,  but  walked  forward  all  night, 
lowing  now  and  again,  by  which  Zinti,  who  found  it  diffi- 
cult to  keep  it  in  sight  because  of  the  darkness,  guessed 
that  it  must  be  near  its  home.  So  it  proved  indeed,  for 
when  the  sun  rose  Zinti  saw  a  kraal  before  him  hidden 
away  in  a  secret  valley  of  the  mountains  over  which  they 
had  been  travelling.  Still  following  the  cow,  though  at  a 
distance,  he  moved  down  towards  the  kraal  and  hid  him- 
self in  a  patch  of  bush.  Presently  the  cattle  were  let  out 
to  graze,  and  the  cow  rushed  to  thorn  lowing  loudly,  till 
a  certain  calf  came  to  it,  which  it  made  much  of  and 
suckled,  for  it  was  its  own  calf. 

Xow  Zinti's  errand  was  done,  but  still  he  lay  hid  in  the 
bush  a  while,  thinking  that  he  might  learn  some  more, 
and  lying  thus  he  fell  asleep,  for  he  was  weary  with  travel. 
When  he  woke  the  sun  was  high,  and  he  heard  women  talk- 
ing to  each  other  close  by  him,  as  they  laboured  at  their 


100  SWALLOW 

task  of  cutting  wands,  such  as  are  used  for  the  making  of 
huts.  He  rose  to  run  away,  then  thought  better  of  it  and 
sat  down  again,  remembering  that  should  he  be  found,  it 
would  be  easy  to  tell  them  that  he  was  a  wanderer  who 
had  lost  his  path.  Presently  one  of  the  women  asked: 

"  For  whom  does  Bull-Head  build  this  fine  new  hut  in 
the  secret  krantz  yonder  ?  " 

Now  Zinti  opened  his  ears  wide,  for  he  knew  that  this 
was  the  name  which  the  natives  had  given  to  Swart  Piet, 
taking  it  from  his  round  head  and  fierce  eye,  according  to 
their  custom  when  they  note  any  peculiarity  in  a  man. 

"  I  do  not  know/'  answered  a  second  woman,  who  was 
young  and  very  pretty,  "  unless  he  means  to  bring  another 
wife  here;  if  so,  she  must  be  a  chiefs  daughter,  since  men 
do  not  build  such  huts  for  girls  of  common  blood." 

"Perhaps,"  said  the  other;  "but  when  I  think  that  he  has 
stolen  her  from  her  father  without  payment:  else  he  would 
not  wish  to  hide  her  away  in  the  secret  krantz.  Well,  let 
her  come,  for  we  women  must  work  hard  here  where  there 
are  so  few  men,  and  many  hoes  clean  a  field  quickly." 

"  For  my  part  I  think  there  are  enough  of  us  already," 
said  the  young  girl,  looking  troubled,  for  she  was  Swart 
Piet's  last  Kaffir  wife,  and  did  not  desire  to  be  supplanted 
by  a  new  favourite.  "  But  be  silent,  I  hear  Bull-Head 
coming  on  his  horse,"  and  she  began  to  work  very  hard  at 
cutting  the  wands. 

A  few  minutes  later  Zinti  saw  Swart  Piet  himself  ride 
up  to  the  women,  who  saluted  him,  calling  him  "  Chief  " 
and  "Husband." 

"  You  are  idle,"  he  said,  eyeing  them  angrily. 

"  These  wands  are  tough  to  cut,  husband,"  murmured 
the  young  woman  in  excuse. 

"  Still  you  must  cut  them  quicker,  girl,"  he  answered, 


WHAT  THE  COW  SHOWED  ZINTI  107 

"  if  you  would  not  learn  how  one  of  them  feels  upon  your 
back.  It  will  go  hard  with  all  of  you  if  the  big  hut  is  not 
finished  in  seven  days  from  now." 

"  We  will  do  our  best,"  said  the  girl,  "  but  who  is  to 
dwell  in  the  hut  when  it  is  done?  " 

"  Not  you,  be  sure  of  that,"  he  answered,  roughly,  "  nor 
any  black  woman,  for  I  am  weary  of  you,  one  and  all. 
Listen:  I  go  to-morrow  with  my  servants  to  fetch  a  chief- 
tainess,  a  white  lady,  to  rule  over  you,  but  if  any  of  you 
speak  a  word  of  her  presence  here  you  will  pay  for  it,  for  I 
shall  turn  you  away  to  starve.  Do  you  understand?  " 

"  We  hear  you,  husband,"  they  replied,  somewhat  sul- 
lenly, for  now  they  understood  that  this  new  wife  would 
be  a  mistress,  and  not  a  sister  to  them. 

"  Then  be  careful  that  you  do  not  forget  my  words,  and 
— hearken — so  soon  as  you  have  cut  a  full  load  of  hut- 
poles,  let  two  of  you  carry  them  up  to  the  krantz  yonder, 
where  they  are  wanted,  but  be  careful  that  no  one  sees  you 
going  in  or  coming  out." 

"  We   hear  you,  husband,"   they  said   again,   whereon 

Now,  although  Zinti  was  said  to  be  foolish,  chiefly,  as 
Swart  Piet  turned  and  rode  away. 

I  think,  because  he  could  not,  or  would  not,  work,  yet  in 
many  ways  he  was  cleverer  than  most  Kaffirs,  and  espe- 
cially always  did  he  desire  to  see  new  places,  the  more  so 
if  they  chanced  to  be  secret  places.  Therefore,  when  he 
heard  Swart  Piet  command  the  women  to  carry  the  rods 
to  the  hidden  krantz,  he  determined  that  he  would  follow 
them,  and  this  he  did  so  skilfully  that  they  neither  heard 
nor  saw  him.  At  first  he  wondered  whither  they  could  be 
going,  for  they  walked  straight  to  the  foot  of  what  seemed 
to  be  an  unclimbable  wall  of  rock  more  than  a  hundred 
feet  high.  On  the  face  of  this  rock,  however,  shrubs  grew 


108  SWALLOW 

here  and  there  like  the  bristles  on  the  back  of  a  hog,  and 
having  first  glanced  round  to  see  that  no  one  was  watching 
them,,  the  women  climbed  to  one  of  these  shrubs,  which 
was  rooted  in  the  cliff  about  the  height  of  a  man  above 
the  level  of  the  ground,  and  vanished  so  quickly  that  Zinti, 
who  was  watching,  rubbed  his  eyes  in  wonder.  After 
waiting  a  while,  however,  he  followed  in  their  steps  to  find 
that  behind  the  shrub  was  a  narrow  cleft  or  crack  such  as 
are  often  to  be  seen  in  cliffs,  and  that  down  this  cleft  ran 
a  pathway  which  twisted  and  turned  in  the  rock,  growing 
broader  as  it  went,  till  at  last  it  ended  in  the  hidden 
krantz.  This  krantz  was  a  very  beautiful  spot  about  three 
morgen,  or  six  English  acres,  in  extent,  and  walled  all 
round  with  impassable  cliffs.  Down  the  face  of  one  of 
these  cliffs  fell  a  waterfall  forming  a  deep  pool,  out  of 
which  a  stream  ran,  and  on  the  banks  of  this  stream  the 
new  hut  was  being  built  in  such  a  position  that  the  heat 
of  the  sun  could  strike  it  but  little. 

While  he  was  taking  note  of  these  and  other  things  Zinti 
saw  some  of  those  who  were  working  at  the  hut  leave  it 
and  start  to  walk  towards  the  cleft.  So  having  learnt 
everything  that  he  could  he  thought  that  it  was  time  to 
go,  and  slipped  away  back  to  the  bush,  and  thence  home- 
wards by  the  road  which  the  cow  had  shown  him. 

ISTow,  it  chanced  that  as  he  went  Zinti  pierced  his  foot 
with  a  large  thorn  so  that  he  was  only  able  to  travel  slowly. 
On  the  fifth  night  of  his  journey  he  limped  into  a  wood  to 
sleep,  which  wood  grew  not  much  more  than  two  hours  on 
horseback  from  our  farm.  When  he  had  been  asleep  for 
some  hours  he  woke  up,  for  all  his  food  was  done,  and  he 
could  not  rest  well  because  of  his  hunger,  and  was  aston- 
ished to  see  the  light  of  a  fire  among  the  trees  at  some 
distance  from  him.  Towards  this  fire  he  crept,  thinking 


WHAT  THE  COW  SHOWED  Z1NTI  109 

that  there  were  herds  or  travellers  who  would  give  him 
food;  but  when  he  came  to  it  he  did  not  ask  for  any,  since 
the  first  thing  he  saw  was  Swart  Piet  himself  walking  up 
and  down  in  front  of  the  fire,  while  at  some  distance  from 
it  lay  a  number  of  his  men  asleep  in  their  karosses.  Pres- 
ently another  man  appeared  slipping  through  the  tree 
trunks,  and  coming  to  Swart  Piet  saluted  him. 

"  Tell  me  what  you  have  found  out,"  he  said. 

"  This,  Baas/'  answered  the  man;  "  I  went  down  to  Heer 
Botmar's  place  and  begged  a  bowlful  of  meal  there,  pre- 
tending that  I  was  a  stranger  on  a  journey  to  court  a  girl 
at  a  distant  kraal.  The  slaves  gave  me  meal  and  some 
flesh  with  it,  and  I  learned  in  talk  with  them  that  the  Heer 
Botmar,  his  vrouw,  his  daughter  Suzanne  and  the  young 
Englishman,  Heer  Kenzie,  all  rode  away  yesterday  to  the 
christening  party  of  the  first-born  of  the  Heer  Eoozen, 
who  lives  about  five  hoiirs  on  horseback  to  the  north  yon- 
der. I  learned  also  that  it  is  arranged  for  them  to  leave 
the  Heer  Eoozen  to-morrow  at  dawn,  and  to  travel  home- 
wards by  the  Tiger's  Nek,  in  which  they  will  off-saddle 
about  two  hours  before  mid-day,  for  I  forgot  to  say  that 
they  have  two  servants  with  them  to  see  to  their  horses." 

"  That  makes  six  in  all,"  said  Swart  Piet,  "  of  whom 
two  are  women,  whereas  we  arc  twenty.  Yes,  it  is  very 
good,  nothing  could  be  better,  for  I  know  the  off-saddling 
place  by  the  stream  in  Tiger's  Xek,  and  it  is  a  nice  place 
for  men  to  hide  behind  the  rocks  and  trees.  Listen  now 
to  the  plan,  and  be  sure  you  understand  it.  When  these 
people  are  off-saddled  and  eating  their  food,  you  Kaffirs 
will  fall  on  them — with  the  spear  and  the  kcrry  alone, 
mind — and  they  will  come  to  their  end." 

"Does  the  master  mean  that  we  are  to  kill  them?"' 
asked  the  man  doiibtfullv. 


110  SWALLOW 

"  Yes/'  answered  Swart  Piet,  with  some  hesitation.  "  I 
do  not  want  to  kill  them  indeed,  but  I  see  no  other  way, 
except  as  regards  the  girl,  of  course,  who  must  be  saved. 
These  people  are  to  be  attacked  and  robbed  by  Kaffirs,  for 
it  must  never  be  known  that  I  had  a  hand  in  it,  and  you 
brutes  of  Kaffirs  always  kill.  Therefore,  they  must  die, 
alas!  especially  the  Englishman,  though  so  far  as  I  am 
concerned  I  should  be  glad  to  spare  the  others  if  I  could, 
but  it  cannot  be  done  without  throwing  suspicion  upon  me. 
As  for  the  girl,  if  she  is  harmed  the  lives  of  all  of  you  pay 
for  it.  You  will  throw  a  kaross  over  her  head,  and  bring 
her  to  the  place  which  I  will  tell  you  of  to-morrow,  where  I 
shall  come  upon  you  with  some  men  and  seem  to  rescue 
her.  Do  you  understand,  and  do  you  think  the  plan  good!" 

"  I  understand,  and  I  think  the  plan  good — for  you — • 
and  yet,  Baas,  there  is  one  thing  that  I  have  not  told  you 
which  may  mar  it." 

"What  is  it?" 

"This:  When  I  was  down  there  at  the  Heer  Botmars 
place,  I  saw  the  witch-doctoress  Sihamba,  who  has  a  hut 
upon  the  farm.  I  was  some  way  off,  but  I  think  that  she 
recognised  me,  as  she  might  well  do  seeing  that  it  was  I  who 
set  the  rope  about  her  neck  when  you  wished  to  hang  her. 
Now  if  she  did  know  me  all  your  plans  may  be  in  vain, 
for  that  woman  has  the  Sight  and  she  will  guess  them. 
Even  when  the  cord  was  round  her  she  laughed  at  me 
and  told  me  that  I  should  die  soon,  but  that  she  would 
live  for  years,  and  therefore  I  fear  her  more  than  anyone 
living." 

"  She  laughed  at  you,  did  she  ?  "  said  Swart  Piet:  "  well, 
I  laugh  at  her,  for  neither  she  nor  anyone  who  breathes 
shall  stand  between  me  and  this  girl,  who  has  preferred 
the  suit  of  another  man  to  mine." 


WHAT  THE  COW  SHOWED  ZINTI  111 

"  Ah,  master!  "  said  the  Kaffir,  with  admiration,  "  you 
are  a  great  one,  for  when  a  fruit  pleases  you,  you  do  not 
wait  for  it  to  drop  into  your  lap,  you  pluck  it." 

"  Yes,"  said  Swart  Piet,  striking  his  breast  with  pride, 
"  if  I  desire  a  fruit  I  pluck  it  as  my  father  did  before  me. 
But  now  go  you  and  sleep,  for  to-morrow  you  will  need 
all  your  wit  and  strength." 

When  the  herd  Zinti  had  heard  this  talk  he  crept  away, 
heading  straight  for  the  farm,  but  his  foot  was  so  bad, 
and  he  was  so  weak  from  want  of  food,  that  he  could  only 
travel  at  the  pace  of  a  lame  ox,  now  hopping  upon  one  leg 
and  now  crawling  upon  his  knees.  In  this  fashion  it  was 
that  at  length,  about  half-past  eight  in  the  morning,  he 
reached  the  house,  or  rather  the  hut  of  Sihamba,  for  she 
had  sent  him  out,  and  therefore  to  her,  after  the  Kaffir 
fashion,  he  went  to  make  report.  Now,  when  he  came  to 
Sihamba,  he  greeted  her  and  asked  for  a  little  food,  which 
she  gave  him.  Then  he  began  to  tell  his  story,  beginning 
as  natives  do  at  the  first  of  it,  which  in  his  case  were  all 
the  wanderings  of  the  cow  which  he  had  followed,  so  that 
although  she  hurried  him  much,  many  minutes  went  by 
before  he  came  to  that  part  of  the  tale  which  told  of  what 
he  had  heard  in  the  wood  some  eight  hours  before. 

So  soon  as  he  began  to  speak  of  this,  Sihamba  stopped 
him,  and  calling  to  a  man  who  lingered  near,  she  bade  him 
bring  to  her  Jan's  famous  young  horse,  the  roan  scliimmel, 
bridled  but  not  saddled.  Now  this  horse  was  the  finest  in 
the  whole  district,  for  his  sire  was  the  famous  blood  stal- 
lion which  the  Government  imported  from  England,  where 
it  won  all  the  races,  and  his  dam  the  swiftest  and  most 
enduring  mare  in  the  breeding  herds  at  the  Paarl.  What 
Jan  gave  for  him  as  a  yearling  I  never  learned,  because 


112  SWALLOW 

he  was  afraid  to  tell  me;  but  I  know  that  we  were  short 
of  money  for  two  years  after  he  bought  him.  Yet  in  the 
end  that  schimmel  proved  the  cheapest  thing  for  which 
ever  a  man  paid  gold. 

Well,  the  Kaffir  hesitated,  for,  as  might  be  guessed,  Jan 
was  very  proud  of  this  horse,  and  none  rode  it  save  himself, 
but  Sihamba  sprang  up  and  spoke  to  him  so  fiercely  that 
at  last  he  obeyed  her,  since,  although  she  was  small  in 
stature,  all  feared  the  magic  of  Sihamba,  and  would  do  her 
bidding.  Nor  had  he  far  to  go,  for  the  scliimmel  did  not 
run  wild  upon  the  veldt,  but  was  fed  and  kept  in  a  stable, 
where  a  slave  groomed  him  every  morning.  Thus  it  came 
about  that  before  Zinti  had  finished  his  tale,  the  horse  was 
standing  before  Sihamba  bridled  but  not  saddled,  arching 
his  neck  and  striking  the  ground  with  his  hoof,  for  he  was 
proud  and  full  of  corn  and  eager  to  be  away. 

"Oh!  fool,"  said  Sihamba  to  Zinti,  "why  did  not  you 
begin  with  this  part  of  your  story?  Now,  to  save  five 
from  death  and  one  from  dishonour,  there  is  but  a  short 
hour  left  and  twenty  long  miles  to  cover  in  it.  Ho!  man, 
help  me  to  mount  this  horse." 

The  slave  put  down  his  hand,  and  setting  her  foot  in  it, 
the  little  woman  sprang  on  to  the  back  of  the  great  stal- 
lion, which  knew  and  loved  her  as  a  dog  might  do,  for  she 
had  tended  it  day  and  night  when  it  was  ill  from  the  sick- 
ness we  call  "  thick  head,"  and  without  doubt  had  saved 
its  life  by  her  skill.  Then,  gripping  its  shoulders  with 
her  knees,  Sihamba  shook  the  reins  and  called  aloud  to 
the  scliimmel,  waving  the  black  rod  she  always  carried  in 
her  hand,  so  that  the  fiery  beast,  having  plunged  once, 
leapt  away  like  an  antelope,  and  in  another  minute  was 
nothing  but  a  speck  racing  towards  the  mountains, 


CHAPTER    XIII 
THE  SCHIMMEL'S  FIRST  RACE 

So  hard  did  Sihamba  ride,  and  so  swift  and  untiring 
proved  the  horse,  to  whose  strength  her  light  weight  was 
as  nothing,  that,  the  veldt  over  which  they  travelled  being 
flat  and  free  from  stones  or  holes,  she  reached  the  mouth 
of  Tiger's  Nek,  twenty  miles  away,  in  very  few  minutes 
over  the  hour  of  time.  But  the  Nek  itself  was  a  mile  or 
more  in  length,  and  for  aught  she  knew  we  might  already 
be  taken  in  Black  Piet's  trap,  and  she  but  riding  to  share 
our  fate.  Still  she  did  not  stay,  but  though  it  panted  like 
a  blacksmith's  bellows,  and  its  feet  stumbled  with  weariness 
among  the  stones  in  the  Nek,  she  urged  on  the  schimmel 
at  a  gallop.  Now  she  turned  the  corner,  and  the  off-sad- 
dling place  was  before  her.  Swiftly  and  fearfully  Sihamba 
glanced  around,  but  seeing  no  signs  of  us,  she  uttered  a 
cry  of  joy  and  shook  the  reins,  for  she  knew  that  she  had 
not  ridden  in  vain.  Then  a  voice  from  the  rocks  called 
out: 

"  It  is  the  witch-doctoress,  Sihamba,  who  rides  to  warn 
them.  Kill  her  swiftly."  With  the  voice  came  a  sound 
of  guns  and  of  bullets  screaming  past  her,  one  of  which 
shattered  the  wand  she  carried  in  her  hand,  numbing  her 
arm.  Nor  was  that  all,  for  men  sprang  up  across  the 
further  end  of  the  off-saddling  place,  where  the  path  was 
8  113 


114  SWALLOW 

narrow,  to  bar  her  way,  and  they  held  spears  in  their 
hands.  But  Sihamba  never  heeded  the  men  or  the  spears, 
for  she  rode  straight  at  them  and  through  them,  and  so 
soon  was  she  gone  that,  although  six  or  seven  assegais  were 
hurled  at  her,  only  one  of  them  struck  the  horse,  wounding 
it  slightly  in  the  shoulder. 

A  few  minutes  later,  three  perhaps,  or  five,  just  as  the 
four  of  us  with  our  Kaffir  servants  were  riding  quietly  up 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Xek,  we  saw  a  great  horse  thundering 
towards  us,  black  Avith  sweat  and  flecked  with  foam,  its 
shoulder  bloody,  its  eyes  staring,  its  red  nostrils  agape, 
and  perched  upon  its  bare  back  a  little  woman  who  swayed 
from  side  to  side  as  though  with  weariness,  holding  in  her 
hand  a  shattered  wand. 

"  Allemachter!  "  cried  Jan.  "  It  is  Sihamba,  and  the 
witch  rides  my  roan  schimmel!" 

By  this  time  Sihamba  herself  was  upon  us.  "  Back," 
she  screamed  as  she  came,  "  death  waits  you  in  the  pass;" 
whereon,  compelled  to  it  as  it  were  by  the  weight  of  the 
words  and  the  face  of  her  who  spoke  them,  we  turned 
our  horses'  heads  and  galloped  after  the  schimmel  for  the 
half  of  a  mile  or  more  till  we  were  safe  in  the  open 
veldt. 

Then  of  a  sudden  the  horse  stopped,  whether  of  its  own 
accord  or  because  its  rider  pulled  upon  the  reins  I  know 
not.  At  the  least  it  stood  there  trembling  like  a  reed  and 
Sihamba  lay  upon  its  back  clinging  to  the  mane,  and  as 
she  lay  I  saw  blood  running  down  her  legs,  for  her  skin 
was  chafed  to  the  flesh  beneath.  Ealph  sprang  to  her  and 
lifted  her  to  the  ground  and  Suzanne  made  her  take  a 
draught  of  peach  brandy  from  Jan's  flask,  which  brought 
the  life  into  her  face  again. 

"  Now,"  she  said,  "  if  you  have  it  to  spare,  give  the 


THE  SCUIMMEL'S  FIRST  RACE  115 

schimmel  yonder  a  drink  of  that  stuff,  for  he  has  saved  all 
your  lives  and  I  think  he  needs  it." 

"  That  is  a  wise  word,"  said  Jan,  and  he  bade  Ralph  and 
the  Kaffirs  pour  the  rest  of  the  spirit  down  the  horse's 
throat,  which  they  did,  thereby,  as  I  believe,  saving  its 
life,  for  until  it  had  swallowed  it  the  beast  looked  as 
though  its  heart  were  about  to  burst. 

"  Now,"  said  Jan,  "  why  do  you  ride  my  best  horse  to 
death  in  this  fashion?" 

"  Have  I  not  told  you,  father  of  Swallow,"  she  answered, 
"  that  it  was  to  save  you  from  death  ?  But  a  few  minutes 
over  an  hour  ago,  fifteen  perhaps,  a  word  was  spoken  to  me 
at  your  stead  yonder  and  now  I  am  here,  seven  leagues 
away,  having  ridden  faster  than  I  wish  to  ride  again,  or 
than  any  other  horse  in  this  country  can  travel  with  a  man 
upon  its  back." 

"To  save  us  from  death!  What  death?"  asked  Jan 
astounded. 

"  Death  at  the  hands  of  Swart  Piet  and  his  Kaffir  tribes- 
men for  the  three  of  you  and  the  two  slaves,  and  for  the 
fourth,  the  lady  Swallow  here,  a  love  which  she  does  not 
seek,  the  love  of  the  murderer  of  her  father,  her  mother, 
and  her  chosen." 

Now  we  stared  at  each  other;  only  Suzanne  ran  to 
Sihamba,  and  putting  her  arms  about  her,  she  kissed 
her. 

"  Nay,"  said  the  little  woman  smiling,  "  nay,  Swallow,  T 
do  but  repay  to  you  one-hundredth  part  of  my  debt,  and  all 
the  rest  is  owing  still." 

Then  she  told  her  story  in  few  words,  and  when  it  was 
done,  having  first  looked  to  see  that  Swart  Piet  and  his 
men  were  not  coming,  at  the  bidding  of  Jan  we  all  knelt 
down  upon  the  veldt  and  thanked  the  Almighty  for  our 


116  SWALLOW 

deliverance.  Only  Sihamba  did  not  kneel,  for  she  was  a 
heathen,  and  worshipped  no  one  unless  it  were  Suzanne. 

"  You  should  pray  to  the  horse,  too,"  she  said,  "  for  had 
it  not  been  for  his  legs,  I  could  never  have  reached  you  in 
time." 

"  Peace,  Sihamba,"  I  answered,  "  it  is  God  who  made 
the  horse's  legs,  as  God  put  it  into  your  mind  to  use 
them; "  but  I  said  no  more,  though  at  any  other  time  I 
should  have  rated  her  well  for  her  heathen  folly. 

Then  we  consulted  together  as  to  what  was  to  be  done 
and  decided  to  make  our  way  to  the  house  by  a  longer 
path  which  ran  through  the  open  veldt,  since  we  were  sure 
that  there,  where  is  no  cover,  Swart  Piet  would  not  attack 
us.  Ealph,  it  is  true,  was  for  going  into  the  Nek  and  at- 
tacking him,  but,  as  Jan  showed  him,  such  an  act  would  be 
madness,  for  they  were  many  and  we  were  few;  moreover, 
they  could  have  picked  us  off  from  behind  the  shelter  of 
the  rocks.  So  we  settled  to  leave  him  alone,  and  that  night 
came  home  safely,  though  not  without  trouble,  for  we 
carried  Sihamba  the  most  of  the  way,  and  after  he  grew 
stiff  the  schimmel  could  only  travel  at  a  walking  pace. 
Very  soon  that  horse  recovered,  however,  for  he  was  a  good 
feeder,  and  lived  to  do  still  greater  service,  although  for  a 
while  his  legs  were  somewhat  puffed  and  had  to  be  poul- 
ticed with  cabbage  leaves. 

Now  Jan  and  Ealph  were  mad  against  Swart  Piet,  and 
would  have  brought  him  to  justice.  But  this  road  of  jus- 
tice was  full  of  stones  and  mud-holes,  since  the  nearest 
land-drost,  as  we  call  a  magistrate,  lived  a  hundred  miles 
off,  and  it  would  not  have  been  easy  to  persuade  Piet  to 
appear  and  argue  the  case  before  him.  Moreover,  here 
again  we  had  no  evidence  against  the  man  except  that  of  a 
simple  black  fellow,  who  would  never  have  been  believed, 


THE  SCH1MHEUS  FIRST  RACE  117 

for,  in  fact,  no  attack  was  made  upon  us,  while  that  upon 
Sihamba  might  very  well  have  been  the  work  of  some  of 
the  low  Kaffirs  that  haunt  the  kloofs,  runaway  slaves,  and 
other  rascals  who  desired  to  steal  the  fine  horse  upon  which 
she  rode.  Also  we  learned  that  our  enemy,  acting  through 
some  agent,  had  sold  his  farm  to  a  stranger  for  a  small 
sum  of  ready  money,  giving  it  out  that  he  had  no  need  of 
the  land,  as  he  was  leaving  this  part  of  the  country. 

But  if  we  saw  Piet's  face  no  more,  we  could  still  feel  the 
weight  of  his  hand,  since  from  that  time  forward  we  began 
to  suffer  from  thefts  of  cattle  and  other  troubles  with  the 
natives,  which — so  Sihamba  learned  in  her  underground 
fashion — were  instigated  by  him,  working  through  his 
savage  tools,  while  he  himself  lay  hidden  far  away,  and  in 
safety.  Also  he  did  us  another  ill  turn — for  it  was  proved 
that  his  money  was  at  the  bottom  of  it — b}'  causing  Ralph 
to  be  commandeered  to  serve  on  some  distant  Kaffir  expe- 
dition, out  of  which  trouble  we  were  obliged  to  buy  him, 
and  at  no  small  cost. 

All  these  matters  weighed  upon  us  much,  so  much,  in- 
deed, that  I  wished  Jan  to  trek  from  the  Transkei  and 
found  a  new  home;  but  he  would  not,  for  he  loved  the  place 
which  he  had  built  up  brick  by  brick,  and  planted  tree  by 
tree;  nor  would  he  consent  to  be  driven  out  of  it  through 
fear  of  the  wicked  practices  of  Swart  Piet.  To  one  thing  he 
did  consent,  however,  and  it  was  that  Ralph  and  Suzanne 
should  be  married  as  soon  as  possible,  for  he  saw  that  until 
they  were  man  and  wife  there  would  be  little  peace  for  any 
of  ITS.  When  they  were  spoken  to  on  the  matter,  neither 
of  them  had  anything  to  say  against  this  plan;  indeed, 
I  believe  that  in  their  hearts,  for  the  first  and  last  time  in 
their  lives,  they  blessed  the  nanio  of  Black  Piet,  whose  evil- 
doing,  as  they  thought,  was  hurrying  on  their  happiness. 


118  SWALLOW 

Now  it  was  settled  that  the  matter  of  this  marriage 
should  be  kept  secret  for  fear  it  should  come  to  the  ears 
of  Van  Vooren  through  his  spies,  and  stir  him  up  to  make 
a  last  attempt  to  steal  away  Suzanne.  And,  indeed,  it  did 
come  to  his  ears,  though  how  to  this  hour  I  do  not  know, 
unless,  in  spite  of  our  warning,  the  predicant  who  was  to 
perform  the  ceremony,  a  good  and  easy  man  but  one  who 
loved  gossip,  blabbed  of  it  on  his  journey  to  the  farm,  for 
he  had  a  two  days'  ride  to  reach  it. 

It  was  the  wish  of  all  of  us  that  we  should  continue  to 
live  together  after  the  marriage  of  Kalph  and  Suzanne, 
though  not  beneath  the  same  roof.  Indeed,  there  would 
have  been  no  room  for  another  married  pair  in  that  house, 
especially  if  children  came  to  them,  nor  did  I  wish  to  share 
the  rule  of  a  dwelling  with  my  own  daughter  after  she 
had  taken  a  husband,  for  such  arrangements  often  end  in 
bitterness  and  quarrels.  Therefore  Jan  determined  to 
build  them  a  new  house  in  a  convenient  spot  not  far  away, 
and  it  was  agreed  that  during  the  two  or  three  months  while 
this  house  was  building  Ealph  and  his  wife  should  pay  a 
visit  to  a  cousin  of  mine,  who  owned  a  very  fine  farm  on 
the  outskirts  of  the  dorp  which  we  used  to  visit  from  time 
to  time  to  partake  of  Naclitmahl.*  This  seemed  wise  to  us 
for  several  reasons  beyond  that  of  the  building  of  the  new 
house.  It  is  always  best  that  young  people  should  begin 
their  married  life  alone,  as  by  nature  they  wish  to  do,  and 
not  under  the  eyes  of  those  who  have  bred  and  nurtured 
them,  for  thus  face  to  face,  with  none  to  turn  to,  they  grow 
more  quickly  accustomed  to  each  other's  faults  and  weak- 
nesses, which,  perhaps,  they  have  not  learned  or  taken 
count  of  before. 

Moreover,  in  the  case  of  Ralph  and  Suzanne  we  thought 

*  That  is,  Holy  Communion. 


THE  SCIIIMMEUS  FIRST  RACE  119 

it  safer  that  they  should  be  absent  for  a  while  from  their 
own  district  and  the  neighbourhood  of  Swart  Piet,  living 
in  a  peopled  place  Vhere  they  could  not  be  molested,  al- 
though, not  knowing  the  wickedness  of  his  heart,  we  did 
not  believe  it  possible  that  he  would  molest  them  when 
once  they  were  married.  Indeed,  there  was  some  talk  of 
their  going  to  the  dorp  for  the  wedding,  and  I  wish  that 
they  had  done  so,  for  then  much  trouble  might  have  been 
spared  to  us.  But  their  minds  were  set  against  this  plan, 
for  they  desired  to  be  married  where  they  had  met  and 
lived  so  long,  so  we  did  not  gainsay  them. 

At  length  came  the  eve  of  the  wedding  day  and  with  it 
the  predicant,  who  arrived  hungry  and  thirsty  but  running 
over  with  smiles  and  blessings.  That  night  we  all  supped 
together  and  were  full  of  joy,  nor  were  Ralph  and  Suzanne 
the  least  joyous  of  us,  though  they  said  little,  but  sat  gazing 
at  each  other  across  the  table  as  though  the  moon  had 
struck  them. 

Before  I  went  to  bed  I  had  occasion  to  go  out  of  the 
house  for  I  remembered  that  somn  linen  which  Suzanne 
was  to  take  with  her  had  been  left  drying  upon  bushes  after 
the  wash,  and  I  feared  that  if  it  remained  there  the  Kaffir 
women  might  steal  it.  This  linen  was  spread  at  a  little 
distance  from  the  house, near  the  huts  where  Sihamba  lived, 
but  I  took  no  lantern  with  me,  for  the  moon  was  bright. 

As  I  drew  near  the  spot  I  thought  that  I  heard  a  sound 
of  chanting  which  seemed  to  come  from  a  little  circle  of 
mimosa  trees  that  grew  a  spear's  throw  to  my  left,  of  chant- 
ing very  low  and  sweet.  Wondering  who  it  was  that  sung 
thus,  and  why  she  sang — for  the  voice  was  that  of  a  woman 
—I  crept  to  the  nearest  of  the  trees,  keeping  in  its  shadow, 
and  peeped  through  the  branches  into  the  grassy  space 
beyond,  to  perceive  Sihamba  crouched  in  the  centre  of  the 


120  SWALLOW 

circle.  She  was  seated  upon  a  low  stone  in  such  fashion 
that  her  head  and  face  shone  strangely  in  the  moonlight, 
while  her  body  was  hidden  in  the  shadow.  Before  her, 
placed  upon  another  stone,  stood  a  large  wooden  bowl, 
such  as  the  Kaffirs  cut  out  of  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  spending 
a  month  of  labour,  or  more,  upon  the  task,  and  into  this 
bowl,  which  I  could  see  was  filled  with  water,  for  it  re- 
flected the  moonrays,  she  was  gazing  earnestly,  and,  as  she 
gazed,  chanting  that  low,  melancholy  song  whereof  I  could 
not  understand  the  meaning. 

Presently  Sihamba  ceased  her  singing,  and  turning  from 
the  bowl  as  though  she  had  seen  in  it  something  that 
frightened  her,  she  covered  her  eyes  with  her  hands  and 
groaned  aloud,  muttering  words  in  which  the  name  of 
Suzanne  was  mixed  up,  or  of  Swallow,  as  she  called  her. 
Now  I  guessed  that  Sihamba  was  practising  that  magic  of 
which  she  was  said  to  be  so  great  a  mistress,  although  she 
denied  always  that  she  knew  anything  of  the  art.  At 
first  I  made  up  my  mind  to  call  to  her  to  cease  from  such 
wickedness,  which,  as  the  Holy  Book  tells  us,  is  a  sin  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Lord,  and  a  cause  of  damnation  to  those  who 
practise  it.  But  I  was  curious  and  longed  greatly  in  my 
heart  to  know  what  it  was  that  Sihamba  saw  in  the  bowl, 
and  what  it  had  to  do  with  my  daughter  Suzanne.  So  I 
changed  my  mind,  thereby  making  myself  a  partaker  of 
the  sin,  and  coming  forward  said  instead: 

"  What  is  it  that  you  do  here  by  night,  in  this  solitary 
place,  Sihamba?  " 

Now  although,  as  I  suppose,  she  had  neither  seen  nor 
heard  me,  for  I  came  up  from  behind  her,  Sihamba  did  not 
start  or  cry  out  as  any  other  woman  would  have  done;  she 
did  not  even  turn  to  look  at  me  as  she  answered  in  a  clear 
and  steady  voice: 


THE  SCHIMMEL'S  FIRST  RACE  121 

"  Now  while  she  is  still  a  girl  I  read  the  fate  of  Swallow 
and  of  those  who  love  her  according  to  my  lore,  0  mother 
of  Swallow.  Look,  I  read  it  there." 

I.  looked  and  saw  that  the  large  bowl  was  filled  to  the 
brim  with  pure  water.  At  the  bottom  of  it  lay  some  white 
sand,  and  on  the  sand  were  placed  five  pieces  of  broken 
looking-glass,  all  of  which  had  been  filed  carefully  to  a 
round  shape.  The  largest  of  these  pieces  was  of  the  size 
of  a  crown  of  English  money.  This  lay  in  the  exact  centre 
of  the  bowl.  Above  it  and  almost  touching  its  edge,  was 
another  piece  of  the  size  of  a  half-crown,  then  to  the  right 
and  left  at  a  little  distance,  two  more  pieces  of  the  size  of  a 
shilling,  and  below,  but  some  way  off,  where  the  bowl  began 
to  curve,  a  very  small  piece  not  larger  than  a  six-penny 
bit. 

"  Swallow,"  said  Sihamba,  pointing  to  the  two  largest  of 
the  fragments,  "  and  husband  of  Swallow.  There  to  the 
right  and  left  father  and  mother  of  Swallow,  and  here  at 
her  feet,  a  long  way  off  and  very  small,  Sihamba,  servant 
of  Swallow,  made  all  of  them  from  the  broken  glass  that 
shows  back  the  face,  which  she  gave  me,  and  set,  as  they 
must  be  set,  like  the  stars  in  the  Cross  of  the  Skies." 

Now  I  shivered  a  little,  for  in  myself  I  was  afraid  of  this 
woman's  magic,  but  to  her  I  laughed  and  said  roughly: 

"  What  fool's  plaything  made  of  bits  of  broken  glass  is 
this  that  yon  have  here,  Sihamba?  " 

"  It  is  a  plaything  that  will  tell  a  story  to  those  who  can 
read  it,"  she  answered  without  anger,  but  like  one  who 
knows  she  speaks  the  truth. 

"  Make  it  tell  its  story  to  me,  and  I  will  believe  you,"  T 
said  laughing  again. 

She  shook  her  head  and  answered,  "  Lady,  I  cannot,  for 
you  have  not  the  Sight;  but  bring  your  husband  here, 


122  SWALLOW 

and  perhaps  he  will  be  able  to  read  the  story,,  or  some 
of  it." 

Now  at  this  I  grew  angry.,  for  it  is  not  pleasant  to  a 
woman  to  hear  that  a  man  whom  all  know  to  be  but  as  a 
child  compared  to  her  can  see  things  in  water  which  she  is 
not  able  to  see,  even  though  the  things  are  born  only  of  the 
false  magic  of  a  witch-doctoress.  Still,  as  at  that  moment 
I  chanced  to  hear  Jan  seeking  me,  for  he  wondered  where  I 
had  gone,  I  called  to  him  and  set  out  the  matter,  expecting 
that  he  would  be  very  angry  and  dismiss  Sihamba,  break- 
ing up  her  magic  bowl.  But  all  the  while  that  I  talked  to 
him  the  little  woman  sat,  her  chin  resting  upon  her  hand, 
looking  into  his  face,  and  I  think  that  she  had  some  power 
over  him.  At  the  least,  he  was  not  at  all  angry,  although 
he  said  that  I  must  not  mention  the  business  to  the  predi- 
cant., who  was  well  known  to  be  a  prejudiced  man.  Then 
he  asked  Sihamba  to  show  him  the  wonders  of  the  bowl. 
Replying  that  she  would  if  she  might,  and  always  keeping 
her  eyes  fixed  upon  his  face,  she  bade  him  kneel  down  and 
look  into  the  water  in  such  fashion  that  he  did  not  shut 
the  moonlight  off  from  it,  and  to  tell  us  what  he  saw. 

So  he  knelt  and  looked,  whispering  presently  that  on  the 
midmost  piece  of  glass  there  appeared  the  image  of  Su- 
zanne, and  on  the  others  respectively  those  of  Ralph,  Jan 
himself,  me  his  wife,  and  of  Sihamba.  I  asked  him  what 
they  were  doing,  but  he  could  give  me  no  clear  answer,  so 
I  suppose  that  they  were  printed  there  like  the  heads  on 
postage  stamps,  if  indeed  they  existed  anywhere  except  in 
Jan's  brain,  into  which  Sihamba  had  conjured  them. 

"  What  do  you  see  more?  "  asked  Sihamba. 

"I  see  a  shadow  in  the  water,"  he  answered,  "a  dark 
shadow,  and — it  is  like  the  head  of  Swart  Pint  cut  out  of 
black  paper — it  spreads  till  it  almost  hides  all  the  faces  on 


THE  SCHIMMEL'S  FIRST  RACE  123 

the  bits  of  glass.  Almost,  I  say,  but  not  quite,  for  things 
are  passing  beneath  the  shadow  which  I  cannot  distinguish. 
Xow  it  shrinks  quite  small,  and  lies  only  over  your  like- 
ness, Sihamba,  which  shows  through  it  red — yes,  and  all 
the  water  round  it  is  red,  and  now  there  is  nothing  left; " 
and  Jan  rose  pale  with  fright,  and  wiped  his  brow  with  a 
coloured  pocket-handkerchief,  muttering  "  Allemachter! 
this  is  magic  indeed." 

"  Let  me  look,"  I  said,  and  I  looked  for  a  long  while  and 
saw  nothing  except  the  five  bits  of  glass.  So  I  told  Jan 
outright  that  he  was  a  fool  whom  any  conjurer  could  play 
with,  but  he  waited  until  I  had  done  and  then  asked  Si- 
hamba what  the  vision  meant. 

"  Father  of  Swallow,"  she  answered,  "  what  I  saw  in  the 
water  mirror  you  have  seen,  only  I  saw  more  than  you  did 
because  my  sight  is  keener.  You  ask  me  what  it  means, 
but  I  cannot  tell  you  altogether,  for  such  visions  are 
uncertain ;  they  sum  up  the  future  but  they  do  not  show  it 
all.  This,  however,  is  sure,  that  trouble  waits  us  every 
one  because  of  Swart  Piet,  for  his  shadow  lay  thick  upon 
the  image  of  each  of  us;  only  note  this,  that  while  it 
cleared  away  from  the  rest,  it  remained  upon  mine,  staining 
it  blood-red,  which  means  that  while  in  the  end  you  will 
escape  him,  I  shall  die  at  his  hands,  or  through  him. 
Well,  so  l)e  it,  but  meanwhile  this  is  my  counsel — because 
of  other  things  that  1  saw  in  Ihe  water  which  T  cannot 
describe,  for  in  truth  T  know  not  rightly  what  they  were — 
that  the  marriage  of  the  Swallow  and  her  husband  should 
he  put.  oil',  and  that  when  they  arc  married  it  should  be  at 
the  dorp  yonder,  not  here." 

Now  when  T  heard  this  my  anger  overflowed  like  water 
in  a  boiling  pot.  "What!"  T  cried,  "when  all  is  settled 
and  the  predicant  has  ridden  for  two  days  to  do  the  thing, 


124  SWALLOW 

is  the  marriage  to  be  put  off  because  forsooth  this  little 
black  idiot  declares  that  she  sees  things  on  bits  of  glass  in 
a  bowl,  and  because  you,  Jan,  who  ought  to  know  better, 
take  the  lie  from  her  lips  and  make  it  your  own?  I  say 
that  I  am  mistress  here  and  that  I  will  not  allow  it.  If  we 
are  to  be  made  fools  of  in  this  fashion  by  the  peepings  and 
mutterings  of  Kaffir  witch-doctors  we  had  better  give  up 
and  die  at  once  to  go  and  live  among  the  dead,  whose 
business  it  is  to  peep  and  mutter.  Our  business  is  to  dwell 
in  the  world  and  to  face  its  troubles  and  dangers  until  such 
time  as  it  pleases  God  to  call  us  out  of  the  world,  paying 
no  heed  to  omens  and  magic  and  such  like  sin  and  folly. 
Let  that  come  which  will  come,  and  let  us  meet  it  like  men 
and  women,  giving  glory  to  the  Almighty  for  the  ill  as 
well  as  for  the  good,  since  both  ill  and  good  come  from  His 
hands  and  are  part  of  His  plan.  For  my  part  I  trust  to 
Him  who  made  us  and  who  watches  us,  and  I  fear  not 
Swart  Piet,  and  therefore  chance  what  may  the  marriage 
shall  go  on." 

"  Good  words/'  said  Jan,  "  such  as  my  heart  approves 
of;"  but  he  still  mopped  his  head  with  the  coloured  pocket- 
handkerchief  and  looked  troubled  as  he  added,  "  I  pray 
you,  wife,  say  nothing  of  this  to  anybody,  and  above  all  to 
the  predicant,  or  he  will  put  me  out  of  the  church  as  a 
wizard." 

"  Yes,  yes,"  said  Sihamba,  "  good  words,  but  the  Sight 
is  still  the  Sight  for  those  who  have  the  power  to  see.  Not 
that  I  wished  you  to  see,  indeed  I  did  not  wish  it,  nor  did  I 
think  that  you  would  be  turned  from  your  purpose  by 
that  which  you  have  seen.  Father  and  mother  of  Swallow, 
you  are  right,  and  now  I  will  tell  you  the  truth.  What,  you 
beheld  in  the  water  was  nothing  but  a  trick,  a  clever  trick 
of  the  little  doctoress,,  Sihamba,  by  the  help  of  which  and 


THE  SCHIMMEUS  FIRST  RACE  125 

others  like  it,  she  earns  her  living,  and  imposes  on  the 
foolish,  though  she  cannot  impose  upon  you,  who  are  wise, 
and  have  the  Lord  of  the  skies  for  a  friend.  So  think  no 
more  of  it,  and  do  not  be  angry  with  the  little  black 
monkey  whose  nature  it  is  to  play  tricks;"  and  with  a 
motion  of  her  foot  she  upset  the  bowl  of  water,  and  collect- 
ing the  pieces  of  mirror  hid  them  away  in  her  skin  pouch. 

Then  we  went,  but  as  I  passed  through  the  thorn  trees 
I  turned  and  looked  at  Sihamba,  and  lo!  she  was  standing 
in  the  moonlight,  her  face  lifted  towards  the  sky,  weeping 
softly  and  wringing  her  hands.  Then  for  the  first  time  I 
felt  a  little  afraid. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

THE    WEDDING 

THE  marriage  morning  of  Ralph  and  Suzanne  broke 
brightly;  never  have  I  seen  a  fairer.  It  was  spring  time, 
and  the  veldt  was  clothed  with  the  fresh  green  grass  and 
starred  everywhere  with  the  lily  blooms  that  sprang  among 
it.  The  wind  blew  softly,  shaking  down  the  dewdrops 
from  the  growing  corn,  while  from  every  bush  and  tree 
came  the  cooing  of  unnumbered  doves.  Beneath  the  eave 
of  the  stoep  the  pair  of  red-breasted  swallows  which  had 
built  there  for  so  many  years  were  finishing  their  nest,  and 
I  watched  them  idly,  for  to  me  they  were  old  friends,  and 
would  wheel  about  my  head,  touching  my  cheek  with  their 
wings.  Just  then  they  paused  from  their  task,  or  perhaps 
it  was  at  length  completed,  and  flying  to  a  bough  of  the 
peach  tree  a  few  yards  away,  perched  there  together  amidst 
the  bright  bloom,  and  nestling  against  each  other,  twittered 
forth  their  song  of  joy  and  love. 

It  was  at  this  moment  that  Sihamba  walked  up  to  the 
sioep  as  though  to  speak  to  me. 

"  The  Swallow  and  the  Swallow's  mate,"  she  said,  fol- 
lowing my  eyes  to  where  the  little  creatures  swung  together 
on  the  beautiful  bough. 

"  Yes,"  I  answered,  for  her  fancy  seemed  to  me  of  good 
omen,  "  they  have  built  their  nest,  and  now  they  are  thank- 


THE   WEDDING  127 

ing  God  before  they  begin  to  live  there  together  and  rear 
their  young  in  love." 

As  the  words  left  my  lips  a  quick  shadow  swept  across 
the  path  of  sunlit  ground  before  the  house,  two  strong 
wings  beat,  and  a  brown  hawk,  small  but  very  fierce,  being 
of  a  sort  that  preys  upon  little  birds,  swooped  downwards 
upon  the  swallows.  One  of  them  saw  it,  and  slid  from  the 
bough,  but  the  other  the  hawk  caught  in  its  talons,  and 
mounted  with  it  high  into  the  air.  In  vain  did  its  mate 
circle  round  it  swiftly,  uttering  shrill  notes  of  distress;  up 
it  went  steadily  as  pitiless  as  death. 

"  Oh!  my  swallow/'  I  cried  aloud  in  grief,  "  the  accursed 
hawk  has  carried  away  my  swallow." 

"  Xay,  look,"  said  Sihamba,  pointing  upwards. 

I  looked,  and  behold!  a  black  crow  that  appeared  from 
behind  the  house,  was  wheeling  about  the  hawk,  striking 
at  it  with  its  beak  until,  that  it  might  have  its  talons  free 
to  defend  itself,  it  let  go  the  swallow,  which,  followed  by 
its  mate,  came  fluttering  to  the  earth,  while  the  crow  and 
the  falcon  passed  away  fighting,  till  they  were  lost  in  the 
blue  depths  of  air. 

Springing  from  the  stoep  I  ran  to  where  the  swallow  lay, 
but  Sihamba  was  there  before  me  and  had  it  in  her  hands. 

"  The  hawk's  beak  has  wounded  it,"  she  said  pointing  to 
a  blood  stain  among  the  red  feathers  of  the  breast,  "  but 
none  of  its  bones  are  broken,  and  I  th^nk  that  it  will  live. 
Let  us  put  it  in  the  nest  and  leave  it  to  its  mate  and 
nature." 

This  we  did,  and  there  in  the  nest  it  stayed  for  some 
days,  its  mate  feeding  it  with  flies  as  though  it  were  still 
unfledged.  After  that  they  vanished,  both  of  them  to- 
gether, seeking  some  new  home,  nor  did  they  ever  build 
acain  beneath  our  eaves. 


128  SWALLOW 

"  Would  you  speak  with  me,  Sihamba  ?  "  I  asked  when 
this  matter  of  the  swallows  was  done  with. 

"  I  would  speak  with  the  Baas,  or  with  you,  it  is  the 
same  thing,"  she  answered,  "  and  for  this  reason.  I  go 
upon  a  journey;  for  myself  I  have  the  good  black  horse 
which  the  Baas  gave  me  after  I  had  ridden  to  warn  you  in 
Tiger  Kloof  yonder,  the  one  that  I  cured  of  sickness.  But 
I  need  another  beast  to  carry  pots  and  food  and  my  servant 
Zinti,  who  accompanies  me.  There  is  the  brown  mule 
which  you  use  little  because  he  is  vicious,  but  he  is  very 
strong  and  Zinti  does  not  fear  him.  Will  you  sell  him  to 
me  for  the  two  cows  I  earned  from  the  Kaffir  whose  wife 
I  saved  when  the  snake  bit  her?  He  is  worth  three,  but  I 
have  no  more  to  offer." 

"  Whither  do  you  wish  to  journey,  Sihamba?  "  I  asked. 

"  I  follow  my  mistress  to  the  dorp,"  she  answered. 

"  Did  she  bid  you  follow  her,  Sihamba?  " 

"  No!  is  it  likely  that  she  would  think  of  me  at  such  a 
time,  or  care  whether  I  come  or  go?  Fear  not,  I  shall  not 
trouble  her,  or  put  her  to  cost;  I  shall  follow,  but  I  shall 
not  be  seen  until  I  am  wanted." 

"  Now  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  gainsay  Sihamba,  not 
that  I  could  find  any  fault  with  her  plan,  but  because  if 
such  arrangements  are  made,  I  like  to  make  them  myself, 
as  is  the  business  of  the  head  of  the  house.  I  think  Si- 
hamba guessed  this;  at  any  rate  she  answered  me  before  I 
spoke,  and  that  in  an  odd  way,  namely,  by  looking  first  at 
the  swallow's  nest,  then  at  the  blooming  bough  of  the 
peach  tree,  and  lastly  into  the  far  distances  of  air. 

"  It  was  the  black  crow  that  drove  the  hawk  away,"  she 
said,  reflectively,  as  though  she  were  thinking  of  something 
else,  "  though  I  think,  for  my  eyes  are  better  than  yours, 
that  the  hawk  killed  the  crow,  or  perhaps  they  killed  each  • 


THE   WEDDING  129 

other;  at  the  least  I  saw  them  falling  to  the  earth  beyond 
the  crest  of  the  mountain." 

At  this  I  was  about  to  break  in  angrily,  for  if  there  was 
one  thing  in  the  world  I  hated  it  was  Sihamba's  nonsense 
about  birds  and  omens  and  such  things,  whereof,  indeed,  I 
had  had  enough  on  the  previous  night,  when  she  made  that 
lump  Jan  believe  that  he  saw  visions  in  a  bowl  of  water. 
And  yet  I  did  not — for  the  black  crow's  sake.  The  cruel 
hawk  had  seized  the  swallow  which  I  loved,  and  borne  it 
away  to  devour  it  in  its  eyrie,  and  it  was  the  crow  that 
saved  it.  Well,  the  things  that  happened  among  birds 
might  happen  among  men,  who  also  prey  upon  each  other, 
and — but  I  could  not  bear  the  thought. 

"  Take  the  mule,  Sihamba,"  I  said;  "  I  will  answer  for  it 
to  the  Baas.  As  for  the  two  cows,  they  can  run  with  the 
other  cattle  till  your  return." 

"  I  thank  you,  Mother  of  Swallow,"  she  answered,  and 
turned  to  go,  when  I  stopped  her  and  asked: 

"  Have  you  heard  anything  that  makes  you  afraid,  Si- 
hamba?" 

"  I  have  heard  nothing,"  she  replied,  "  still  I  am  afraid." 

"  Then  you  are  a  fool  for  your  pains,  to  be  afraid  of 
nothing,"  I  answered  roughly;  "  but  watch  well,  Sihamba." 

"  Fear  not,  I  will  watch  till  my  knees  are  loosened  and 
my  eyes  grow  hollow."  Then  she  went  away,  and  that  was 
the  last  I  saw  of  her  for  many  a  weary  month.  Ah!  Su- 
zanne, child,  had  it  not  been  for  the  watching  of  little 
Sihamba,  the  walker-by-moonlight,  you  had  not  been  sit- 
ting there  to-day,  looking  much  as  she  used  to  look,  the 
Suzanne  of  fifty  years  ago." 

The  marriage  was  to  take  place  at  noon,  and  though  I 
had  much  to  see  to,  never  have  I  known  a  longer  morning. 
9 


130  SWALLOW 

Why  it  was  I  cannot  say.,  but  it  seemed  to  me  as  though 
twelve  o'clock  would  never  come.  Then,  wherever  1  went 
there  was  Kalph  in  my  way,  wandering  about  in  a  senseless 
fashion  with  his  best  clothes  on,  while  after  him.  wandered 
Jan  holding  his  new  hat  in  his  hand. 

"  In  the  name  of  Heaven,"  I  cried  at  length  as  I  blun- 
dered into  both  of  them  in  the  kitchen,  "  be  off  out  of  this. 
Why  are  you  here  ?  " 

"  Allemachter!  "  said  Jan,  "because  we  have  nowhere 
else  to  go.  They  are  making  the  sitting-room  ready  for 
the  service  and  the  dinner  after  it;  the  predicant  is  in 
Ealph's  room  writing;  Suzanne  is  in  yours  trying  on  her 
clothes,  and  the  stoep  and  even  the  stables  are  full  of 
Kaffirs.  Where,  then,  shall  we  go  ?  " 

"  Cannot  you  see  to  the  waggon?  "  I  asked. 

"  We  have  seen  to  it,  mother,"  said  Balph;  "  it  is  packed, 
and  the  oxen  are  already  tied  to  the  yokes  for  fear  lest  they 
should  stray." 

"  Then  be  off  and  sit  in  it  and  smoke  till  I  come  to  call 
you,"  I  replied,  and  away  they  walked  shamefacedly 
enough,  Ealph  first,  and  Jan  following  him. 

At  twelve  o'clock  I  went  for  them,  and  found  them 
both  seated  on  the  waggon-chest  smoking  like  chimneys, 
and  saying  nothing. 

"  Come,  Ealph,"  I  said,  "  it  is  quite  time  for  you  to  be 
married,"  and  he  came,  looking  very  pale,  and  walking 
unsteadily  as  though  he  had  been  drinking,  while  after 
him,  as  usual,  marched  Jan,  still  pulling  at  the  pipe  which 
he  had  forgotten  to  take  out  of  his  mouth. 

Somehow  I  do  not  recollect  much  of  the  details  of  that 
wedding;  they  seem  to  have  slipped  my  mind,  or  per- 
haps they  are  buried  beneath  the  memories  of  all  that 
followed  hard  upon  it.  I  remember  Suzanne  standing 


THE   WEDDING  131 

before  the  little  table,  behind  which  was  the  predicant 
with  his  book.  She  wore  a  white  dress  that  fitted  her  very 
well,  but  had  no  veil  upon  her  head  after  the  English 
fashion,  which  even  Boer  girls  follow  nowadays,  only  in 
her  hand  she  carried  a  bunch  of  rare  white  flowers  that 
Sihamba  had  gathered  for  her  in  a  hidden  kloof  where  they 
grew.  Her  face  was  somewhat  pale,  or  looked  so  in  the 
dim  room,  but  her  lips  showed  red  like  coral,  and  her  dark 
eyes  glowed  and  shone  as  she  turned  them  upon  the  lover 
at  her  side,  the  fair-haired,  grey-eyed,  handsome  English 
lad,  whose  noble  blood  told  its  tale  in  every  feature  and 
movement,  yes,  and  even  in  his  voice,  the  man  whom  she 
had  saved  from  death  to  be  her  life-mate. 

A  few  whispered  words,  the  changing  of  a  ring,  and  one 
long  kiss,  and  these  two,  Ralph  Kenzie  and  Suzanne  Bot- 
mar,  were  husband  and  wife  in  the  eyes  of  God  and  man. 
Ah!  me,  I  am  glad  to  think  of  it,  for  in  the  end,  of  all  the 
many  marriages  that  I  have  known,  this  proved  the  very 
best  and  happiest. 

Xow  I  thought  that  it  was  done  with,  for  they  had 
knelt  down  and  the  predicant  had  blessed  them;  but  not 
so,  for  the  good  man  must  have  his  word,  and  a  long  word 
it  was.  On  and  on  he  preached  about  the  duties  of  hus- 
bands and  wives,  and  many  other  matters,  till  at  last,  as  I 
expected,  he  came  to  the  children.  Xow  1  could  bear  it 
no  longer. 

"  That  is  enough,  reverend  Sir,"  T  said,  "  for  surely  it  is 
scarcely  needful  to  talk  of  children  to  people  who  have  not 
been  married  five  minutes." 

That  pricked  the  bladder  of  his  discourse,  which  soon 
came  to  an  end,  whereon  I  called  to  the  Kaffirs  to  bring  in 
dinner. 

The  food  was  good  and  plentiful,  and  so  was  the  Hoi- 


132  SWALLOW 

lands,  or  Squareface  as  they  call  it  now,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  Constantia  and  peach-brandy  which  had  been  sent  to 
me  many  years  before  by  a  cousin  who  lived  at  Stellen- 
bosch;  and  yet  that  meal  was  not  as  cheerful  as  it  might 
have  been.  To  begin  with,  the  predicant  was  sulky  be- 
cause I  had  cut  him  short  in  his  address,  and  a  holy  man 
in  the  sulks  is  a  bad  kind  of  animal  to  deal  with.  Then 
Jan  tried  to  propose  the  health  of  the  new  married  pair 
and  could  not  do  it.  The  words  seemed  to  stick  in  his 
throat,  for  at  the  best  Jan  never  was  a  speaker.  In  short, 
he  made  a  fool  of  himself  as  usual,  and  I  had  to  fill  up 
the  gaps  in  his  head. 

Well,  I  talked  nicely  enough  till  in  an  evil  moment  I 
overdid  it  a  little  by  speaking  of  Ealph  as  one  whom 
Heaven  had  sent  to  us,  and  of  whose  birth  and  parents  we 
knew  nothing.  Then  Jan  found  his  tongue  and  said: 
"  Wife,  that's  a  lie,  and  you  know  it,"  for,  doubtless,  the 
Hollands  and  the  peach-brand}r  had  got  the  better  of  his 
reason  and  his  manners.  I  did  not  answer  him  at  the 
time,  for  I  hate  wrangling  in  public,  but  afterwards  I 
spoke  to  him  on  the  subject  once  and  for  all.  Luckily,  the 
predicant  took  no  notice  of  this  incident,  for  he  was  think- 
ing about  himself  as  he  was  too  prone  to  do. 

Then,  to  make  matters  worse,  Suzanne  must  needs  throw 
her  arms  round  her  father's  neck  and  begin  to  cry — thanks 
be  to  my  bringing  up  of  her,  she  knew  better  than  to  throw 
them  round  mine.  "  Good  Lord!  "  I  said,  losing  my 
temper,  "what  is  the  girl  at  now?  She  has  got  the  hus- 
band for  whom  she  has  been  craving,  and  the  first  thing 
she  does  is  to  snivel.  Well,  if  I  had  done  that  to  my 
husband  I  should  have  expected  him  to  box  my  ears, 
though  Heaven  knows  that  I  should  have  had  excuse  for 
it," 


THE  WEDDING  133 

Here  the  predicanf  woke  up,  seeing  his  chance. 

"Vrouw  Botmar,"  he  said, blinking  at  me  like  an  owl,  "it 
is  my  duty  to  reprove  your  irreverent  language  even  at  this 
festive  board,  for  a  word  must  be  spoken  both  in  and  out 
of  season,  and  without  respect  of  persons.  Vrouw  Botmar,  I 
fear  that  you  do  not  remember  the  Third  Commandment, 
therefore  I  will  repeat  it  to  you,"  and  he  did  so,  speaking 
very  slowly. 

What  I  answered  1  cannot  recollect,  but  even  now  I 
seem  to  see  that  predicant  flying  out  of  the  door  of  the 
room  holding  his  hands  above  his  head.  Well,  for  once  he 
met  his  match,  and  I  know  that  afterwards  he  always 
spoke  of  me  with  great  respect. 

After  this  again  I  remember  little  more  till  the  pair 
started  upon  their  journey.  Suzanne  asked  for  Sihamba 
to  say  good-bye  to  her,  and  when  she  was  told  that  she 
was  not  to  be  found  she  seemed  vexed,  which  shows  that 
the  little  doctoress  did  her  injustice  in  supposing  that  just 
because  she  was  married  she  thought  no  more  of  her.  Then 
she  kissed  us  all  in  farewell — ah!  we  little  knew  for  how 
long  that  farewell  was  to  be — and  went  down  to  the  wag- 
gon to  which  the  sixteen  black  oxen,  a  beautiful  team, 
were  inspanned,  and  standing  there  ready  to  start.  But 
Ralph  and  Suzanne  were  not  going  to  ride  in  the  waggon, 
for  they  had  horses  to  carry  them.  At  the  last  moment, 
indeed,  Jan,  whose  head  was  still  buzzing  with  the  peach- 
brandy,  insisted  upon  giving  lialph  the  great  schimmel, 
that  same  stallion  which  Sihamba  had  ridden  when  she 
warned  us  of  the  ambush  in  the  pass,  galloping  twenty 
miles  in  the  hour.  This  shows  me  that  Providence  can 
turn  even  a  man's  vices  to  account,  for  afterwards  the 
sclnmmel  was  very  useful. 

So  there  was  much  kissing  and  many  good-byes;  Ealph 


134  SWALLOW 

and  Suzanne  saying  that  they  would  soon  be  back,  which 
indeed  was  the  case  with  one  of  them,  till  at  last  they  were 
off,  Jan  riding  with  them  a  little  way  towards  their  first 
outspan  by  the  sea,  fourteen  miles  distant,  where  they  were 
to  sleep  that  night. 

When  they  had  gone  I  went  into  my  bedroom,  and  sit- 
ting down,  I  cried,  for  I  was  sorry  to  lose  Suzanne,  even  for 
a  little  and  for  her  own  good,  and  my  heart  was  heavy. 
Also  my  quarrel  with  the  predicant  had  put  me  out  of 
temper.  When  I  had  got  over  this  fit  I  set  to  work  to  tid}r 
Suzanne's  little  sleeping  place,  and  that  I  found  a  sad  task. 
Then  Jan  returned  from  the  waggon,  having  bid  farewell 
to  the  }roung  couple,  an  hour's  trek  away,  and  his  head 
being  clear  by  now,  we  talked  over  the  plans  of  the  new 
house  which  was  to  be  built  for  them  to  live  in,  and,  going 
down  to  the  site  of  it,  set  it  out  with  sticks  and  a  rule, 
which  gave  us  occupation  till  towards  sunset,  when  it  was 
time  for  him  to  go  to  see  to  the  cattle. 

That  night  we  went  to  bed  early,  for  we  were  tired,  and 
slept  a  heavy  sleep,  till  at  length,  about  one  in  the  morn- 
ing, we  were  awakened  by  the  shoutings  of  the  messengers 
who  came  bearing  the  terrible  news. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

RALPH  RETURNS  INTO   THE  SEA. 

RALPH  and  Suzanne  reached  their  outspan  place  in 
safety  a  little  before  sunset.  I  used  to  know  the  spot  well; 
it  is  where  one  of  the  numerous  wooded  kloofs  that  scar 
the  mountain  slopes  ends  on  a  grassy  plain  of  turf,  short 
but  very  sweet.  This  plain  is  not  much  more  than  five 
hundred  paces  wide,  for  it  is  bordered  by  the  cliff,  that 
just  here  is  not  very  high,  against  which  the  sea  beats  at 
full  tide. 

When  the  oxen  had  been  turned  loose  to  graze,  and  the 
voorlooper  set  to  watch  them,  the  driver  of  the  waggon  un- 
did the  cooking  vessels  and  built  a  fire  with  dry  wood  col- 
lected from  the  kloof.  Then  Suzanne  cooked  their  simple 
evening  meal,  of  which  they  partook  thankfully.  After  it 
was  done  the  pair  left  the  waggon  and  followed  the  banks 
of  the  little  kloof  stream,  which  wandered  across  the  plain 
till  it  reached  the  cliff,  whence  it  fell  in  a  trickling  water- 
fall into  the  sea.  Here  they  sat  down  upon  the  edge  of  the 
cliff,  and  locked  in  each  other's  arms,  watched  the  moon 
rise  over  the  silver  ocean,  their  young  hearts  filled  with  a 
joy  that  cannot  be  told. 

"  The  sea  is  beautiful,  is  it  not,  husband  ?  "  whispered* 
Suzanne  into  his  ear. 

"  To-night  it  is  beautiful,"  he  answered,  "  as  our  lives 


136  SWALLOW 

seem  to  be;  yet  I  have  seen  it  otherwise/'  and  he  shuddered 
a  little. 

She  nodded,  for  she  knew  of  what  he  was  thinking,  and 
did  not  wish  to  speak  of  it.  "  Neither  life  nor  ocean  can 
be  always  calm/'  she  said,  "  but  oh !  I  love  that  great  water, 
for  it  brought  you  to  me." 

"  I  pray  that  it  may  never  separate  us,"  answered  Ealph. 

"  Why  do  you  say  that,  husband?  "  she  asked.  "  Noth- 
ing can  separate  us  now,  for  even  if  you  journey  far  away 
to  seek  your  own  people,  as  sometimes  I  think  you  should, 
I  shall  accompany  you.  Nothing  can  separate  us  except 
death,  and  death  shall  but  bind  us  more  closely  each  to 
each  for  ever  and  for  ever." 

"  I  do  not  know  why  I  said  it,  Sweet,"  he  answered 
uneasily,  and  just  then  a  little  cloud  floated  over  the  face 
of  the  moon,  darkening  the  world,  and  a  cold  wind  blew 
down  the  kloof,  causing  its  trees  to  rustle  and  chilling 
the  pair,  so  that  they  clung  closer  to  each  other  for  com- 
fort. 

The  cloud  and  the  wind  passed  away,  leaving  the  night 
as  beautiful  as  before,  and  they  sat  on  for  a  while  to  watch 
it,  listening  to  the  music  of  the  waterfall  that  splashed  into 
the  deep  sea  pool  below,  and  to  the  soft  surge  of  the  waves 
as  they  lapped  gently  against  the  narrow  beach. 

At  length  Ealph  spoke  in. a  low  voice.  "Sweet,  it  is 
time  to  sleep,"  he  said,  and  kissed  her. 

"  It  is  time,"  she  whispered  back,  "  but,  husband,  first 
let  us  kneel  together  here  and  pray  to  the  Almighty  to 
bless  our  married  life  and  make  us  happy." 

"  That  is  a  good  thought,"  he  answered,  for  in  those 
days  young  men  who  had  been  brought  up  as  Christians 
were  not  ashamed  to  say  their  prayers  even  in  the  presence 
of  others. 


13? 

So  they  knelt  down  side  by  side  upon  the  edge  of  the 
cliff,  with  their  faces  set  towards  the  open  sea. 

"  Pray  for  us  both  aloud,  Balph,"  said  Suzanne,  "  for 
though  my  heart  is  full  enough  I  have  no  words." 

So  Ealph  prayed  very  simply,  saying:  "  Oh,  God,  Who 
madest  us,  hear  us,  Thy  son  and  daughter,  and  bless  us. 
This  night  our  married  life  begins;  be  Thou  with  us  ever 
in  it,  and  if  it  should  please  Thee  that  we  should  have 
children,  let  Thy  blessing  go  with  them  all  their  days. 
Oh!  God,  I  thank  Thee  that  Thou  didst  save  me  alive  from 
the  sea  and  lead  the  feet  of  the  child  who  is  now  my 
wife  to  the  place  where  I  was  starving,  and  Suzanne  thanks 
Thee  that  through  the  whisperings  of  a  dream  her  feet 
were  led  thus.  Oh!  God,  as  I  believe  that  Thou  didst  hear 
my  prayer  when  as  a  lost  child  I  knelt  dying  on  the  rock, 
so  I  believe  that  Thou  dost  hear  this  the  first  prayer  of  our 
wedded  life.  We  know  that  all  life  is  not  made  up  of  such 
joy  as  Thou  hast  given  us  this  day,  but  that  it  has  many 
dangers  and  troubles  and  losses,  therefore  we  pray  Thee  to 
comfort  us  in  the  troubles,  to  protect  us  in  the  dangers, 
and  to  give  us  consolation  in  the  losses;  and  most  of  all  we 
pray  Thee  that  we  who  love  each  other,  and  whom  Thou 
hast  joined  together,  may  be  allowed  to  live  out  our  lives 
together,  fearing  nothing,  however  great  our  peril,  since 
day  and  night  we  walk  in  the  shadow  of  Thy  strength, 
until  we  pass  into  its  presence." 

This  was  Ralph's  prayer,  for  he  told  it  to  me  word  by 
word  afterwards  when  he  lay  sick.  At  the  time  the  answer 
to  it  seemed  to  be  a  strange  one,  an  answer  to  shake  the 
faith  out  of  a  man's  heart,  and  yet  it  was  not  lost  or 
mocked  at,  for  the  true  response  came  in  its  season.  Nay, 
it  came  week  by  week  and  hour  by  hour,  seeing  that  every 
day  through  those  awful  years  the  sword  of  the  Strength 


138  SWALLOW 

they  had  implored  protected  those  who  prayed,  holding 
them  harmless  in  many  a  desperate  peril  to  reunite  them 
at  the  last.  The  devil  is  very  strong  in  this  world  of  ours,  or 
so  it  seems  to  me,  who  have  known  much  of  his  ways,  so 
strong  that  perhaps  God  must  give  place  to  him  at  times, 
for  if  He  rules  in  heaven,  I  think  that  Satan  shares  His 
rule  on  earth.  But  in  the  end  it  is  God  who  wins,  and 
never,  never,  need  they  fear  who  acknowledge  Him  and 
put  their  faith  in  Him,  trying  the  while  to  live  uprightly 
and  conquer  the  evil  of  their  hearts.  Well,  this  is  only 
an  old  woman's  wisdom,  though  it  should  not  be  laughed 
at,  since  it  has  been  taught  to  her  by  the  experience  of  a 
long  and  eventful  life.  Siich  as  it  is  I  hope  that  it  may 
be  of  service  to  those  who  trust  in  themselves  and  not 
in  their  Maker. 

As  the  last  words  of  his  prayer  left  Kalph's  lips  he  heard 
a  man  laugh  behind  him.  The  two  of  them  sprang  to 
their  feet  at  the  sound,  and  faced  about  to  see  Swart  Piet 
standing  within  five  paces  of  them,  and  with  him  eight  or 
ten  of  his  black  ruffians,  who  looked  upon  him  as  their 
chief,  and  did  his  needs  without  question,  however  wicked 
they  might  be. 

N"ow  Suzanne  uttered  a  low  cry  of  fear  and  the  blood 
froze  about  Ealph's  heart,  for  he  was  unarmed  and  their 
case  was  hopeless.  Black  Piet  saw  their  fear  and  laughed 
again,  since  like  a  cat  that  has  caught  a  mouse  for  which 
it  has  watched  long,  he  could  not  resist  the  joy  of  torture 
before  he  dealt  the  death  blow. 

"  This  is  very  lucky,"  he  said,  "  and  I  am  glad  that  I 
have  to  do  with  such  pious  people,  since  it  enabled  us  to 
creep  on  you  unawares;  also  I  much  prefer  to  have  found 
you  engaged  in  prayer,  friend  Englishman,  rather  than  in 


RALPH  RETURNS  INTO  THE  SEA          iaa 

taking  the  bloom  off  my  peach  with  kisses,  as  I  feared 
might  be  the  case.  That  was  a  pretty  prayer,  too;  I  almost 
felt  as  though  I  were  in  church  while  I  stood  listening  to 
it.  How  did  it  end?  You  prayed  that  you  might  be  al- 
lowed to  live  together,  fearing  nothing,  however  great  your 
peril,  since  you  walked  always  in  the  shadow  of  God's 
strength.  Well,  I  have  come  to  answer  your  petition,  and 
to  tell  you  that  your  life  together  is  ended  before  it  is 
begun.  For  the  rest,  your  peril  is  certainly  great,  and  now 
let  God's  strength  help  you  if  it  can.  Come,  God,  show 
Your  strength.  He  does  not  answer,  you  see,  or  perhaps 
He  knows  that  Swart  Piet  is  god  here  and  is  afraid." 

"  Cease  your  blasphemy,"  said  Ralph  in  a  hoarse  voice, 
"  and  tell  me  what  you  want  with  us." 

"  What  do  I  want?  I  want  her  whose  scorn  and  beauty 
have  driven  me  mad,  her  for  whom  I  have  been  seeking 
this  long  time — Suzanne  Botrnar." 

"  She  is  my  wife,"  said  Ralph ;  "  would  you  steal  away 
my  wife?  " 

"  No,  friend,  for  that  would  not  be  lawful.  I  will  not 
take  your  wife,  but  I  shall  take  your  widow,  as  will  be  easy, 
seeing  that  you  are  armed  with  God's  strength  only." 

Now  understanding  all  this  man's  devilish  purpose,  Su- 
zanne fell  upon  her  knees  before  him,  imploring  him  with 
many  piteous  words.  But  knowing  that  death  was  at  hand 
Ralph's  heart  rose  to  it,  as  that  of  a  high-couraged  man 
will  do,  and  he  bade  her  to  cease  her  supplications  and  rise. 
Then  in  a  loud,  clear  voice  he  spoke  in  the  Kaffir  tongue, 
so  that  those  who  were  with  Piet  Van  Yooren  should 
understand  him. 

"  It  seems,  Piet  Van  Vooren,"  he  said,  "  that  you  have 
stolen  upon  us  here  to  carry  off  my  wife  by  violence  after 
you  have  murdered  me.  These  crimes  you  may  do,  though 


140  SWALLOW 

I  know  well  that  if  you  do  them  they  will  be  revenged 
upon  you  amply,  and  upon  you  men  also  who  take  part  in 
them.  And  now  I  will  not  plead  to  you  for  mercy,  but  I 
ask  one  thing  which  you  cannot  refuse,  because  those  with 
you,  Kaffirs  though  they  be,  will  not  suffer  it — five  short 
minutes  of  time  in  which  to  bid  farewell  to  my  new-wed 
wife." 

"  Not  an  instant,"  said  Swart  Piet,  but  at  the  words  the 
black  men  who  were  with  him,  and  whose  wicked  hearts 
were  touched  with  pity,  began  to  murmur  so  loudly,  that 
he  hesitated. 

"  At  your  bidding,  Bull-Head,"  said  one  of  them,  "  we 
have  come  to  kill  this  man  and  to  carry  away  the  white 
woman,  and  we  will  do  it,  for  you  are  our  chief  and  we 
must  obey  you.  But,  if  you  will  not  give  him  the  little 
space  for  which  he  asks,  wherein  to  bid  farewell  to  his  wife 
before  she  becomes  your  wife,  then  we  will  have  nothing 
mo-re  to  do  with  the  matter.  I  say  that  our  hearts  are 
sick  at  it  already,  and,  Bull-Head,  you  kill  a  man,  not  a 
dog,  and  that  by  murder,  not  in  fair  fight." 

"  As  you  will,  fool,"  said  Swart  Piet.  "  Englishman,  I 
give  you  five  minutes,"  and  he  drew  a  large  silver  watch 
from  his  pocket  and  held  it  in  his  hand. 

"  Get  out  of  hearing  then,  murderer,"  said  Ralph,  "  for  I 
have  no  breath  left  to  waste  on  you,"  and  Piet  obeying 
him,  fell  back  a  little  and  stood  gnawing  his  nails  and 
staring  at  the  pair. 

"  Suzanne,  wife  Suzanne,"  whispered  Ralph,  "  we  are 
about  to  part,  since,  as  you  see,  I  must  die,  and  your  fate 
lies  in  the  Hand  of  God.  Yes,  you  are  made  a  widow  be- 
fore you  are  a  wife  ;  and,  Suzanne,  ah!  that  is  the  worst  of 
it,  another  takes  you,  even  my  murderer." 

Now  Suzanne,  who  till  this  moment  had  been  as  one 


141 

stupefied,  seemed  to  gather  up  her  strength  and  answered 
him  calmly,  saying: 

"  Truly,  husband,  things  appear  to  be  as  you  say,  though 
what  we  have  done  that  they  should  be  so,  I  cannot  tell. 
Still  comfort  yourself,  for  death  comes  to  all  of  us  soon  or 
late,  and  whether  it  comes  soon  or  late  makes  little  differ- 
ence in  the  end,  seeing  that  come  it  must." 

"  No,  not  death,  it  is  your  fate  that  makes  the  difference. 
How  can  I  bear  to  die  and  leave  you  the  prey  of  that 
devil?  Oh  my  God!  my  God!  how  can  I  bear  to  die!  " 

"  Have  no  fear,  husband,"  went  on  Suzanne  in  the  same 
clear,  indifferent  voice,  "  for  you  do  not  leave  me  to  be  his 
prey.  Say,  now;  if  we  walk  backwards  swiftly  before  they 
could  catch  us  we  might  fall  together  into  the  pit  of  the 
sea  beneath." 

"  Nay,  wife,  let  our  deaths  lie  upon  their  heads  and  not 
upon  ours,  for  self-murder  is  a  crime." 

"  As  you  will,  Ralph;  but  I  tell  you,  and  through  you  I 
tell  Him  who  made  me,  that  it  is  a  crime  which  I  shall 
dare  if  need  be.  Have  no  fear,  Ralph,  as  I  leave  your 
arms,  so  shall  I  return  to  them,  whether  it  be  in  Heaven 
or  upon  earth.  That  man  thinks  he  has  power  over  me, 
but  I  say  that  he  has  none,  seeing  that  at  the  last  God  will 
protect  me  with  His  hand,  or  with  my  own." 

"  I  cannot  blame  you,  Suzanne,  for  there  are  some  things 
which  are  not  to  be  borne.  Do  therefore  as  your  con- 
science teaches  you,  if  you  have  the  means." 

"  I  have  the  means,  Ralph.  Hidden  about  me  is  a  little 
knife  which  I  have  carried  since  I  was  a  child;  and  if  that 
fails  me  there  are  other  ways." 

"  Time  is  done,"  said  Swart  Piet,  replacing  the  watch  in 
his  pocket. 

"'  Farewell,  sweet,"  whispered  Ralph. 


142  SWALLOW 

"  Farewell,  husband,"  she  answered  bravely,  "  until  we 
meet  again,  whether  it  be  here  on  earth  or  above  in 
Heaven;  farewell  until  we  meet  again,"  and  she  flung  her 
arms  about  his  neck  and  kissed  him. 

For  a  moment  Ealph  clung  to  her  muttering  some  bless- 
ing above  her  bowed  head;  then  he  unloosed  her  clasping 
arms,  letting  her  fall  gently  upon  the  ground  and  saying: 
"  Lie  thus,  shutting  your  ears  and  hiding  your  eyes  till 
all  is  done.  Afterwards  you  must  act  as  seems  best  to  you. 
Escape  to  your  father  if  you  can,  if  not — tell  me,  do  you 
understand?  " 

"  I  understand,"  she  murmered,  and  hid  her  face  in  a 
tuft  of  thick  grass,  placing  her  hands  upon  her  ears. 

Ealph  bowed  his  head  for  an  instant  in  prayer.  Then 
he  lifted  it  and  there  was  no  fear  upon  his  face. 

"  Come  on,  murderer,"  he  said,  addressing  Swart  Piet, 
"  and  do  your  butcher's  work.  Why  do  you  delay?  You 
cannot  often  find  the  joy  of  slaughtering  a  defenceless  man 
in  the  presence  of  his  new-made  wife.  Come  on  then  and 
win  the  everlasting  curse  of  God." 

Now  Swart  Piet  glanced  at  him  out  of  the  corners  of 
his  round  eyes;  then  he  ordered  one  of  the  Kaffirs  to  go  up 
to  him  and  shoot  him. 

The  man  went  up  and  lifted  his  gun,  but  presently  he 
put  it  down  again  and  walked  away,  saying  that  he  could 
not  do  this  deed.  Thrice  did  Van  Yooren  issue  his  com- 
mand, and  to  three  separate  men,  the  vilest  of  his  flock, 
but  with  each  of  them  it  was  the  same;  they  came  up  lift- 
ing their  guns,  looked  into  Ralph's  grey  eyes  and  slunk 
away  muttering.  Then,  cursing  and  swearing  in  his  mad 
fury,  Swart  Piet  drew  the  pistol  from  his  belt  and  rushing 
towards  Ralph  fired  it  into  him  so  that  he  fell.  He  stood 
over  him  and  looked  at  him,  the  smoking  pistol  in  his  hand, 


RALPH  RETURNS  INTO   THE  SEA  14<J 

but  the  wide  grey  eyes  remained  open  and  the  strong 
mouth  still  smiled. 

u  The  dog  lives  yet,"  raved  Swart  Piet;  u  cast  him  into 
the  sea,  and  let  the  sea  finish  him." 

But  no  man  stirred;  all  stood  silent  as  though  they  had 
been  cut  in  stone,  and  there,  a  little  nearer  the  cliff  edge, 
lay  the  silent  form  of  Suzanne. 

Then  Van  Vooren  seized  Ralph  and  dragged  him  by  the 
shoulders  to  the  brink  of  the  precipice.  'His  hair  brushed 
the  hair  of  Suzanne  as  his  body  was  trailed  along  the 
ground,  and  as  he  passed  he  whispered  one  word,  "  Remem- 
ber," into  her  ear,  and  she  raised  her  head  to  look  at  him 
and  answered,  "  Xow,  and  always."  Then  she  let  her  head 
fall  again. 

Stooping  down,  Swart  Piet  lifted  Ralph  in  his  great 
arms,  and  crying  aloud:  "  Return  into  the  sea  out  of  which 
you  came,"  he  hurled  him  over  the  edge  of  the  cliff.  Two 
seconds  later  the  sound  of  a  heavy  splash  echoed  up  its 
sides;  then,  save  for  the  inurmer  of  the  waterfall  and  the 
surge  of  the  surf  upon  the  beach,  all  was  still  again. 


CHAPTEE    XVI 

HOW  KALPH  CAME  BACK  TO  THE  STEAD 

FOE  a  few  moments  Swart  Piet  and  his  black  ruffians 
stood  staring  now  at  each  other  and  now  over  the  edge  of 
the  cliff  into  the  deep  sea-hole.  There,  however,  they 
could  see  nothing,  for  the  moonbeams  did  not  reach  its 
surface,  and  the  only  sound  they  heard  was  that  of  the 
dripping  of  the  little  waterfall,  which  came  to  their  ears 
like  the  tinkle  of  distant  sheep-bells.  Then  Swart  Piet 
shivered  and  laughed  aloud,  a  laugh  that  had  more  of  fear 
than  of  merriment  in  it. 

"  The  Englishman  called  down  the  everlasting  curse  of 
God  on  me,"  he  cried.  "  Well,  I  have  waited  for  it,  and  it 
does  not  come,  so  now  for  man's  reward/'  and  going  to 
where  Suzanne  lay,  he  set  his  arms  beneath  her  and  turned 
her  over  upon  her  back.  "  She  has  swooned,"  he  said; 
"  perhaps  it  is  as  well,"  and  he  stood  looking  at  her,  for 
thus  in  her  faint  she  seemed  wonderfully  fair  with  the 
moonbeams  playing  upon  her  deathlike  face. 

"  He  had  good  taste,  that  Englishman,"  went  on  Swart 
Piet.  "  "Well,  now  our  account  is  squared;  he  has  sown 
and  I  shall  harvest.  Follow  me,  you  black  fellows,  for  we 
had  best  be  off,"  and,  stooping  down  he  lifted  Suzanne  in 
his  arms  and  walked  away  with  her  as  though  she  were  a 
child.  For  a  while  thev  followed  the  windings  of  the 


HOW  RALPH  CAME  HACK  TO   THE  STEAD      145 

stream,  keeping  under  cover  of  the  reeds  and  bushes  that 
grew  upon  its  banks.  Then  they  struck  out  to  the  right, 
taking  advantage  of  a  cloud  which  dimmed  the  face  of  the 
moon  for  a  time,  for  they  wished  to  reach  the  kloof  without 
being  seen  from  the  waggon.  ISTor,  indeed,  were  they  seen, 
for  the  driver  and  voorlooper  were  seated  by  the  cooking- 
fire  on  its  further  side,  smoking,  and  dozing  as  they  smoked. 
Only  the  great  thoroughbred  horse  winded  them  and 
snorted,  pulling  at  the  reim  with  which  he  was  tied  to  the 
hind  wheel  of  the  waggon. 

"  Something  has  frightened  the  'chimmel,"  said  the 
driver  waking  up. 

"  It  is  nothing,"  answered  the  other  boy  drowsily;  "  he 
is  not  used  to  the  veldt,  he  who  always  sleeps  in  a  house 
like  a  man;  or,  perhaps,  he  smells  a  hyena  in  the  kloof." 

"  I  thought  I  heard  a  sound  like  that  of  a  gun  a  while 
ago  down  yonder  by  the  sea,"  said  the  driver  again.  "  Say, 
brother,  shall  we  go  and  find  what  made  it  ?  " 

"  By  no  means,"  answered  the  voorlooper,  who  did  not 
like  walking  about  at  night,  fearing  lest  he  should  meet 
spooks.  "  I  have  been  wide  awake  and  listening  all  this 
time,  and  I  heard  no  gun;  nor,  indeed,  do  people  go  out 
shooting  at  night.  Also  it  is  our  business  to  watch  here  by 
the  waggon  till  our  master  and  mistress  return." 

"  Where  can  they  have  gone?  "  said  the  driver,  who  felt 
frightened,  he  knew  not  why.  "  It  is  strange  that  they 
should  be  so  long  away  when  it  is  time  for  them  to 
sleep." 

"Who  can  account  for  the  ways  cf  white  people?"  an- 
swered the  other,  shrugging  his  shoulders.  "  Very  often 
they  sit  up  all  night.  Doubtless  these  two  will  return 
when  they  are  tired,  or  perhaps  they  desire  to  sleep  in  the 
veldt.  At  any  rate  it  is  not  our  duty  to  interfere  with 
10 


146  SWALLOW 

them,,  seeing  that  they  can  come  to  no  harm  here  where 
there  are  neither  men  nor  tigers." 

"  So  be  it/'  said  the  driver,  and  they  both  dozed  off  again 
till  the  messenger  of  ill  came  to  rouse  them. 

Now  Black  Piet  and  his  men  crept  up  the  kloof  carrying 
Suzanne  with  them,  till  they  came  to  a  little  patch  of  rocky 
ground  at  the  head  of  it  where  they  had  left  their  horses. 

"  That  was  very  well  managed,"  said  Piet  as  they  loosed 
them  and  tightened  their  girths,  "  and  none  can  ever  know 
that  we  have  made  this  journey.  To-morrow  the  bride 
and  bridegroom  will  be  missed,  but  the  sea  has  the  one 
and  I  have  the  other,  and  hunt  as  they  may  they  will  never 
find  her,  nor  guess  where  she  has  gone.  No,  it  will  be 
remembered  that  they  walked  down  to  the  sea,  and  folk 
will  think  that  by  chance  they  fell  from  the  cliff  into  the 
deep  water  and  vanished  there.  Yes,  it  was  well  managed 
and  none  can  guess  the  truth." 

Now  the  man  to  whom  he  spoke,  that  same  man  with 
whom  the  boy  Zinti  had  heard  him  plot  our  murder  in  the 
Tiger  Kloof,  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  answered: 

"  I  think  there  is  one  who  will  guess." 

"Who  is  that,  fool?" 

"  She  about  whose  neck  once  I  set  a  rope  at  your  bid- 
ding, Bull-Head,  and  whose  life  was  bought  by  those  lips," 
and  he  pointed  to  Suzanne,  "  Sihamba  Ngenyanga." 

"Why  should  she  guess?"  asked  Piet  angrily. 

"Has  she  not  done  so  before?  Think  of  the  great 
scliimmel  and  its  rider  in  Tiger  Kloof.  Moreover,  what 
does  her  name  mean?  Does  it  not  mean  '  Wanderer-by- 
moonlight,'  and  was  not  this  great  deed  of  yours  a  deed 
at  the  telling  of  which  all  who  hear  of  it  shall  grow  sick 
and  silent,  done  in  the  moonlight,  Bull-Head?" 


now  RALPH  CAME  HACK  TO  THE  STEAD     147 

Now  as  we  learned  afterwards  from  a  man  whom  Jan 
took  prisoner,  and  who  told  us  everything  which  passed 
that  night,  hoping  to  buy  his  life,  Piet  made  no  answer 
to  this  saying,  but  turned  to  busy  himself  with  his  sad- 
dle, for,  after  his  ill  dealings  with  her,  he  was  always 
afraid  of  Sihamba,  and  would  never  mention  her  name 
unless  he  was  obliged.  Soon  the  horses,  most  of  which 
were  small' and  of  the  Basuto  breed,  were  ready  to  start. 
On  one  of  the  best  of  them  there  was  a  soft  pad  of  sheep- 
skins, such  as  girls  used  to  ride  on  when  I  was  young, 
before  we  knew  anything  about  these  new-fangled  English 
saddles  with  leather  hooks  to  hold  the  rider  in  her  place. 
On  this  pad,  which  had  been  prepared  for  her,  they  set  Su- 
zanne, having  first  tied  her  feet  together  loosely  with  a 
riem  so  that  she  might  not  slip  to  the  ground  and  attempt 
to  escape  by  running.  Moreover,  as  she  was  still  in  a 
swoon,  they  supported  her,  Black  Piet  walking  upon  one 
side  and  a  Kaffir  upon  the  other.  In  this  fashion  they 
travelled  for  the  half  of  an  hour  or  more,  until  they  were 
deep  in  among  the  mountains,  indeed,  when  suddenly  with 
a  little  sigh  Suzanne  awoke,  and  glanced  about  her  with 
wide,  frightened  eyes.  Then  memory  came  back  to  her, 
and  she  understood,  and,  opening  her  lips,  she  uttered  one 
shriek  so  piercing  and  dreadful  that  the  rocks  of  the  hills 
multiplied  and  echoed  it,  and  the  blood  went  cold  even  in 
the  hearts  of  those  savage  men. 

"  Suzanne,"  said  Swart  Piet  in  a  low,  hoarse  voice,  "  1 
have  dared  much  to  win  you,  and  I  wish  to  treat  you 
kindly,  but  if  you  cry  out  again,  for  my  own  safety's  sake 
and  that  of  those  with  me,  we  must  gag  you." 

She  made  no  answer  to  him,  nor  did  she  speak  at  all 
except  one  word,  and  that  word  "Murderer."  Then  she 
closed  her  eyes  as  though  to  shut  out  the  sight  of  his  face, 


148  SWALLOW 

and  sat  silent,  saying  nothing  and  doing  nothing,  even 
when  Piet  and  the  other  man  who  supported  her  had 
mounted  and  pushed  their  horses  to  a  gallop,  leading  that 
on  which  she  rode  by  a  riem. 

It  might  be  thought  after  receiving  a  pistol  bullet 
fired  into  him  at  a  distance  of  four  paces,  and  being  cast 
down  through  fifty  feet  of  space  into  a  pool  of  the  sea, 
that  there  was  an  end  of  Ealph  Kenzie  for  ever  on  this 
earth.  But  thanks  to  the  mercy  of  God  this  was  not  so, 
for  the  ball  had  but  shattered  his  left  shoulder,  touching 
no  vital  part,  and  the  water  into  which  he  fell  was  deep, 
so  that,  striking  against  no  rock,  he  rose  presently  to  the 
surface,  and  the  pool  being  but  narrow,  was  able  to  swim 
to  one  side  of  it  where  the  beach  shelved.  Up  that  beach 
Ealph  could  not  climb,  however,  for  he  was  faint  with  loss 
of  blood  and  shock.  Indeed,  his  senses  left  him  while  he 
was  in  the  water,  but  it  chanced  that  he  fell  forward  and 
not  backward,  so  that  his  head  rested  upon  the  shelving 
edge  of  the  pool,  all  the  rest  of  his  body  being  beneath  its 
surface.  Lying  thus,  had  the  tide  been  rising,  he  would 
speedily  have  drowned,  but  it  had  turned,  and  so,  the  water 
being  warm,  he  took  no  further  harm. 

Now  Sihamba  did  not  leave  the  stead  till  some  hours 
after  Ealph  and  his  bride  had  trekked  away.  She  knew 
where  they  would  outspan,  and  as  she  did  not  wish  that 
they  should  see  her  yet,  or  until  they  were  too  far  upon 
their  journey  to  send  her  back,  it  was  her  plan  to  reach  the 
spot,  or  rather  a  hiding-place  in  the  kloof  within  a  stone's 
throw  of  it,  after  they  had  gone  to  rest.  So  it  came 
about  that  at  the  time  when  Ealph  and  Suzanne  were  sur- 
prised by  Swart  Piet,  Sihamba  was  riding  along  quietly 
upon  the  horse  which  Jan  had  given  her,  accompanied  by 


HOW  RALPH   CAME  BACK  TO   THE  STEAD       149 

the  lad  Zinti,  perched  on  the  strong  brown  mule  in  the 
midst  of  cooking  pots,  bags  of  meal,  biltong,  and  rolls  of 
blankets.  Already,  half  a  mile  off  or  more,  she  could  see 
the  cap  of  the  waggon  gleaming  white  in  the  moonlight, 
when  suddenly  away  to  the  left  they  heard  the  sound  of  a 
pistol  shot. 

"  Xow  who  shoots  in  this  lonely  place  at  night?"  said 
Sihamba  to  Zinti.  ''  Had  the  sound  come  from  the  wag- 
gon yonder  I  should  think  that  someone  had  fired  to  scare 
a  hungry  jackal,  but  all  is  quiet  at  the  waggon,  and  the 
servants  of  Swallow  are  there,  for,  look,  the  fire  burns." 

"  I  know  not,  lady,"  answered  Zinti,  for  Sihamba  was 
given  the  title  of  Chieftainess  among  the  natives  who  knew 
something  of  her  birth,  "  but  I  am  sure  that  the  sound  was 
made  by  powder." 

"  Let  us  go  and  see,"  said  Sihamba  turning  her  horse. 

For  a  while  they  rode  on  towards  the  place  whence  they 
had  heard  the  shot,  till,  suddenly,  when  they  were  near  the 
cliff  and  in  a  little  fold  of  ground  beyond  the  ridge  of 
which  ran  the  stream,  Sihamba  stopped  and  whispered, 
"  Be  silent,  I  hear  voices."  Then  she  slipped  from  her 
horse  and  crept  like  a  snake  up  the  slope  of  the  rise  until 
she  reached  its  crest,  where  at  this  spot  stood  two  tufts  of 
last  season's  grass,  for  no  fires  had  swept  the  veldt.  From 
between  these  tufts,  so  well  hidden  herself  that  unless  they 
had  stepped  upon  her  body,  none  could  have  discovered 
her.  she  saw  a  strange  sight. 

There  beneath  her,  within  a  few  paces  indeed,  for  the 
ground  sloped  steeply  to  the  stream,  men  were  passing. 
The  first  of  these  was  white,  and  he  carried  a  white  woman 
in  his  arms;  the  rest  were  Kaffirs,  some  of  whom  wore 
karosses  or  cotton  blankets,  and  some  tattered  soldiers' 
coats  and  trousers,  while  all  were  well  armed  with  "  rocrs  " 


150  SWALLOW 

or  other  guns,  and  had  powder  flasks  hung  about  their 
necks.  Sihamba  knew  at  once  that  the  white  man  was 
Swart  Piet,  and  the  woman  in  his  arms  her  mistress, 
Suzanne.  She  could  have  told  it  from  her  shape  alone, 
but  as  it  happened,  her  head  hung  down,  and  the  moon- 
light shone  upon  her  face  so  brightly  that  she  could  see 
its  every  feature.  Her  blood  boiled  in  her  as  she  looked, 
for  now  she  understood  that  her  fears  were  just,  and  that 
the  Swallow  whom  she  loved  above  everything  in  the  world, 
had  fallen  into  the  power  of  the  man  she  hated.  At  first 
she  was  minded  to  follow,  and  if  might  be,  to  rescue  her. 
Then  she  remembered  the  pistol-shot,  and  remembered  also 
that  this  new-made  wife  would  have  been  with  her  husband 
and  no  other.  Where,  then,  was  he  now?  Without  doubt, 
murdered  by  Bull-Head.  If  so,  it  was  little  use  to  look  for 
him,  and  yet  something  in  her  heart  told  her  to  look. 

At  that  moment  she  might  not  help  Suzanne,  for  what 
could  one  woman  and  a  Kaffir  youth  do  against  so  many 
men?  Moreover,  she  knew  whither  Van  Yooren  would 
take  her,  and  could  follow  there,  but  first  she  must  learn 
for  certain  what  had  been  the  fate  of  the  Baas  Ealph  her 
husband.  So  Sihamba  lay  still  beneath  the  two  tufts  of 
grass  until  the  last  of  the  men  had  passed  in  silence,  glanc- 
ing about  them  sullenly  as  though  they  feared  vengeance 
for  a  crime.  Then,  having  noted  that  they  were  heading 
for  the  kloof,  she  went  back  to  where  Zinti  stood  in  the 
hollow  holding  the  horse  with  one  hand  and  the  mule 
with  the  other,  and  beckoned  him  to  follow  her. 

Very  soon,  tracing  the  spoor  backwards,  they  reached 
the  edge  of  the  cliff  just  where  the  waterfall  fell  over  it 
into  the  sea  pool.  Here  she  searched  about,  noting  this 
thing  and  that,  till  at  last  all  grew  clear  to  her.  Yonder 
Suzanne  had  lain,,  for  the  impress  of  her  shape  could  still 


HOW  RALPH  CAME  BACK  TO   THE  STEAD       151 

be  seen  upon  the  grass.  And  there  a  man  had  been 
stretched  out,  for  his  blood  stained  the  ground.  More,  he 
had  been  dragged  to  the  edge  of  the  cliff,  for  this  was  the 
track  of  his  body  and  the  spoor  of  his  murderer's  feet. 
Look  how  his  heels  had  sunk  into  the  turf  as  he  took  the 
weight  of  the  corpse  in  his  arms  to  hurl  it  over  the  edge. 

"  Tie  the  horse  and  the  mule  together,  Zinti,"  she  said, 
"  and  let  us  find  a  path  down  this  precipice." 

The  lad  obeyed,  wondering,  though  he  too  guessed  much 
of  what  had  happened,  and  after  a  little  search  they  found 
a  place  by  which  they  could  descend.  Now  Sihamba  ran 
to  the  pool  and  stood  upon  its  brink  scanning  the  surface 
with  her  eyes,  till  at  length  she  glanced  downwards,  and 
there,  almost  at  her  feet,  three  parts  of  his  body  yet  hidden 
in  the  water,  lay  the  man  she  sought. 

Swiftly  she  sprang  to  him,  and,  aided  by  Zinti,  dragged 
him  to  dry  ground. 

"Alas!  lady/'  moaned  the  Kaffir,  "it  is  of  no  use,  the 
Baas  is  dead.  Look,  he  has  been  shot." 

Taking  no  heed  of  the  words,  Sihamba  opened  Ealph's 
garments,  placing  first  her  hand,  then  her  ear,  upon  his 
heart.  Presently  she  lifted  her  head,  a  light  of  hope 
shining  in  her  eyes,  and  said: 

"  Nay,  he  lives,  and  we  have  found  him  in  time.  More- 
over, his  wound  is  not  to  death.  Now  help  me,  for  between 
us  we  must  bear  him  up  the  cliff." 

So  Zinti  took  him  on  his  back  as  a  man  takes  a  sack  of 
flour,  while  Sihamba  supported  his  legs,  and  thus  between 
them,  with  great  toil,  for  the  way  was  very  steep,  they 
carried  him  by  a  sloping  buck's  path  to  the  top  of  the 
precipice,  and  laid  him  upon  the  mule. 

"Which  way  now?"  gasped  Zinti,  for  being  strong  he 
had  borne  the  weight. 


152  SWALLOW 

"  To  the  waggon  if  they  have  not  yet  stolen  it,"  said  Si- 
hamba, and  thither  they  went. 

When  they  were  near  she  crept  forward,  searching  for 
Swart  Piet  and  his  gang,  hut  there  were  no  signs  of  them, 
only  she  saw  the  driver  and  his  companion  nodding  by  the 
fire.  She  walked  up  to  them. 

"  Do  you  then  sleep,  servants  of  Kenzie,"  she  said, 
"  while  the  Swallow  is  borne  away  to  the  Hawk's  Nest  and 
the  husband  of  Swallow,  your  master,  is  cast  by  Bull-Head 
back  into  the  sea  whence  he  came?" 

Now  the  men  woke  up  and  knew  her.  "  Look,  it  is 
Sihamba,"  stammered  one  of  them  to  the  other,  for  he  was 
frightened.  "  What  evil  thing  has  happened,  Lady  Si- 
hamba?" 

"  I  have  told  you,  but  your  ears  are  shut.  Come  then 
and  see  with  your  eyes,"  and  she  led  them  to  where  Ealph 
lay  in  his  blood,  the  water  yet  dripping  from  his  hair 
and  clothes. 

"  Alas!  he  is  dead,"  they  groaned  and  wrung  their  hands. 

"  He  is  not  dead,  he  will  live;  for  while  you  slept  I  found 
him,"  she  answered.  "  Swift  now,  bring  me  the  waggon 
box  that  is  full  of  clothes,  and  the  blankets  off  the  cartel." 

They  obeyed  her,  and  very  quickly  and  gently — for  of  all 
doctors  Sihamba  was  the  best — with  their  help  she  drew 
off  his  wet  garments,  and,  having  dried  him  and  dressed 
his  wounds  with  strips  of  linen,  she  put  a  flannel  shirt 
upon  him  and  wrapped  him  in  blankets.  Then  she  poured 
brandy  into  his  mouth,  but,  although  the  spirit  brought  a 
little  colour  into  his  pale  face,  it  did  not  awaken  him,  for 
his  swoon  was  deep. 

"  Lay  him  on  the  cartel  in  the  waggon,"  she  said,  and, 
lifting  him,  they  placed  him  upon  the  rimpi  bed.  Then 
she  ordered  them  to  inspan  the  waggon,  and  this  was  done 


HOW  RALPH  CAME  BACK  TO   THE  STEAD       153 

quickly,  for  the  oxen  lay  tied  to  the  trek-tow.  When  all 
was  ready  she  spoke  to  the  two  men,  telling  them  what  had 
happened  so  far  as  she  knew  it,  and  adding  these  words: 

"  Trek  back  to  the  stead  as  swiftly  as  you  may,  one  of 
you  sitting  in  the  waggon  to  watch  the  Baas  Kenzie  and  to 
comfort  him  should  he  wake  out  of  his  swoon.  Say  to  the 
father  and  mother  of  Swallow  that  I  have  taken  the  horses 
to  follow  Swart  Piet  and  to  rescue  her  by  cunning  if  so  I 
can,  for  as  will  be  plain  to  them,  this  is  a  business  that 
must  not  wait;  also  that  I  have  taken  with  me  Zinti,  since 
he  alone  knows  the  path  to  Bull-Head's  secret  hiding- 
place  in  the  mountains.  Of  that  road  Zinti  will  tell  you 
all  he  can  and  you  will  tell  it  to  the  Baas  Botmar,  who 
must  gather  together  such  men  as  he  is  able,  and  start  to- 
morrow to  follow  it  and  rescue  us,  remembering  what  sort 
of  peril  it  is  in  which  his  daughter  stands.  If  by  any 
means  I  can  free  the  Swallow,  we  will  come  to  meet  him; 
if  not,  who  knows?  Then  he  must  act  according  to  his 
judgment  and  to  what  he  learns.  But  let  him  be  sure  of 
this,  and  let  her  husband  be  sure  also,  that  while  I  have 
life  in  me  I  will  not  cease  from  my  efforts  to  save  her,  and 
that  if  she  dies — for  I  know  her  spirit  and  no  worse  harm 
than  death  will  overtake  her — then  if  may  be,  I  Avill  die 
with  her  or  to  avenge  her,  and  I  have  many  ways  of  ven- 
geance. Lastly,  let  them  not  believe  that  we  are  dead  until 
they  have  certain  knowledge  of  it, for  it  may  chance  that  we 
cannot  return  to  the  stead,  but  must  lie  bid  in  the  moun- 
tains or  among  the  Kaffirs.  Now  bear  what  Zinti  lias  to 
say  as  to  the  path  of  Bull-Head's  den  and  begone,  forget- 
ting no  one  of  my  words,  for  if  you  linger  or  forget,  when  I 
come  again  I,  Sihambs1,  will  blind  your  eyes  and  shrivel 
your  livers  with  a  spell." 

"  We  hear  you,"  they  answered,  "•''  and  remember  every 


154  SWALLOW 

word  of  your  message.  In  three  hours  the  Baas  shall 
know  it." 

Five  minutes  later  they  trekked  away  and  so  swiftly 
did  they  drive  and  so  good  were  the  oxen,,  that  in  less 
than  the  three  hours  we  were  awakened  hy  the  barking  of 
the  dogs  and  one  knocking  on  our  door,  and  ran  out  to 
learn  all  the  dreadful  tidings  and  to  find  Balph  bleeding 
and  still  senseless,  stretched  upon  that  cartel  where  we 
thought  him  sleeping  happily  with  his  bride. 

Oh!  the  terror  and  the  agony  of  that  hour,  never  may  I 
forget  them!  Xever  may  I  forget  the  look  that  sprang 
into  Ealph's  eyes  when  at  last  he  awoke  and,  turning  them 
to  seek  Suzanne,  remembered  all. 

"  Why  am  I  here  and  not  dead?  "  he  asked  hoarsely. 

"  Sihamba  saved  you  and  you  have  been  brought  back 
in  the  waggon,"  I  answered. 

"  Where  then  is  Suzanne  ?  "  he  asked  again. 

"  Sihamba  has  ridden  to  save  her  also,  and  Jan  starts 
presently  to  follow  her,  and  with  him  others." 

"  Sihamba!  "  he  groaned.  "  What  can  one  woman  do 
against  Piet  Van  Vooren  and  his  murderers,  and  for  the 
rest  they  will  be  too  late.  Oh!  my  God,  my  God,  what 
have  we  done  that  such  a  thing  should  fall  upon  us?  Think 
of  it,  think  of  her  in  the  hands  of  Piet  Van  Vooren.  Oh! 
my  God,  my  God,  I  shall  go  mad! " 

Indeed  I,  who  watched  him,  believe  that  this  would  have 
been  so,  or  else  his  brain  must  burst  beneath  its  shock  of 
sorrow,  had  not  nature  been  kind  to  him  and  plunged  him 
back  into  stupor.  In  this  he  lay  long,  until  well  on  into 
the  morrow  indeed,  or  rather  the  day,  for  by  now  it  was 
three  o'clock,  when  the  doctor  came  to  take  out  the  pistol 
ball  and  set  his  shattered  bone.  For,  as  it  chanced,  a 
doctor,  and  a  clever  one,  had  been  sent  for  from  the  dorp 


HOW  RALPH  CAME  BACK  TO   THE  STEAD       155 

to  visit  the  wife  of  a  neighbour  who  lay  sick  not  more  than 
twenty  miles  away,  and  we  were  able  to  summon  him. 
Indeed  but  for  this  man's  skill,  the  sleeping  medicines  he 
gave  him  to  quiet  his  mind,  and,  above  all,  a  certain  special 
mercy  which  shall  be  told  of  in  its  place,  I  think  that 
Ealph  would  have  died.  As  it  was,  seven  long  weeks  went 
by  before  he  could  sit  upon  a  horse. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

THE  HIDDEN  KEANTZ 

BEFORE  the  waggon  left  her,  Sihamba  took  from  it 
Ralph's  gun,  a  very  good  roer,  together  with  powder  and 
bullets.  Also  she  took  tinder,  a  bottle  of  peach-brandy, 
a  blanket,  mealies  in  a  small  bag,  wherewith  to  bait  the 
horses  in  case  of  need,  and  some  other  things  which  she 
thought  might  be  necessary.  These  she  laded  among  her 
own  goods  upon  the  mule  that  with  her  horse  had  been 
fetched  by  Zinti  and  hastily  fed  with  corn.  ISTow,  at  her 
bidding,  Zinti  set  Suzanne's  saddle  upon  the  back  of  the 
schimmel,  and  Ralph's  on  that  of  Suzanne's  grey  mare, 
Avhich  he  mounted  that  the  mule  might  travel  lighter. 
Then  Sihamba  got  upon  her  own  horse,  a  good  and  quiet 
beast  which  she  rode  with  a  sheepskin  for  a  saddle,  and 
they  started,  Sihamba  leading  the  scMmmel  and  Zinti  the 
mule  that,  as  it  chanced,  although  bad  tempered,  would 
follow  well  on  a  riem. 

Riding  up  the  kloof  they  soon  reached  the  spot  where 
Van  Vooren's  band  had  tethered  their  horses  and  tracked 
the  spoor  of  them  with  ease  for  so  long  as  the  ground  was 
soft.  Afterwards  when  they  reached  the  open  country, 
where  the  grass  had  been  burnt  off  and  had  only  just 
begun  to  spring  again,  this  became  more  difficult,  and  at 
length,  in  that  light,  impossible.  Here  they  wasted  a  long 


THE  IIIDDEX  KRANTZ  157 

time,  searching  for  the  hoof-marks  by  the  rays  of  the 
waning  moon,  only  to  lose  them  again  so  soon  as  they  were 
found. 

"  At  this  pace  we  shall  take  as  long  to  reach  Bull-Head's 
kraal  as  did  the  cow  you  followed,"  said  Sihamba  presently. 
Say,  now,  can  you  find  the  way  to  it?  " 

"  Without  a  doubt,  lady;  Zinti  never  forgets  a  road  or  a 
landmark/' 

"  Then  lead  me  there  as  fast  as  may  be." 

"  Yes,  lady,  but  Bull-Head  may  have  taken  the  Swallow 
somewhere  else,  and  if  we  do  not  follow  his  spoor  how 
shall  we  know  where  he  has  hidden  her?  " 

"  Fool,  I  have  thought  of  that,"  she  answered  angrily, 
"  else  should  I  have  spent  all  this  time  looking  for  hoof- 
marks  in  the  dark?  We  must  risk  it,  I  say.  To  his  house 
he  has  not  taken  her,  for  other  white  folk  are  living  in  it, 
and  it  is  not  likely  he  would  have  a  second,  or  a  better 
hiding-place  than  that  you  saw.  I  say  that  we  must  be 
bold  and  risk  it  since  we  have  no  time  to  lose." 

"  As  you  will,  mistress,"  answered  Zinti.  "  Who  am  I 
that  I  should  question  your  wisdom  ?  "  and,  turning  his 
horse's  head,  he  rode  forward  across  the  gloomy  veldt  as 
certainly  as  a  homing  rock-dove  wings  its  flight. 

So  they  travelled  till  the  sun  rose  behind  a  range 
of  distant  hills.  Then  Zinti  halted  and  pointed  to 
them. 

"  Look,  lady,"  he  said.  "  Do  you  see  that  peak  among 
the  mountains  which  has  a  point  like  a  spear,  the  one  that 
seems  as  though  it  were  on  fire?  Well,  behind  it  lies  Bull- 
Head's  kraal." 

"  It  is  far,  Zinti,  but  we  must  be  there  by  night." 

"  That  may  be  done,  lady,  but  if  so  we  must  spare  our 
horses." 


158  SWALLOW 

"  Good/'  she  answered.  "  Here  is  a  spring;  let  us  off- 
saddle  a  while." 

So  they  off-saddled  and  ate  of  the  food  which  they  had 
brought,  while  the  horses  filled  themselves  with  the  sweet 
green  grass,,  the  schimmel  being  tied  to  the  grey  mare,  for 
he  would  not  bear  a  knee-halter. 

All  that  day  they  rode,  not  so  very  fast  but  steadily,  till 
towards  sunset  they  off-saddled  again  beneath  the  shadow 
of  the  spear-pointed  peak.  There  was  no  water  at  this 
spot,  but  seeing  a  green  place  upon  the  slope  of  a  hill  close 
by,  Zinti  walked  to  it,  leading  the  thirsty  beasts.  Pres- 
ently he  threw  up  his  hand  and  whistled,  whereon  Sihamba 
set  out  to  join  him,  knowing  that  he  had  found  a 
spring.  So  it  proved  to  be,  and  now  they  learned  that 
Sihamba  had  been  wise  in  heading  straight  for  Swart 
Piet's  hiding-place,  since  round  about  this  spring  was  the 
spoor  of  many  horses  and  of  men.  Among  these  was  the 
print  of  a  foot  that  she  knew  well,  the  little  foot  of 
Suzanne. 

"  How  long  is  it  since  they  left  here  ?  "  asked  Sihamba, 
not  as  one  who  does  not  know,  but  rather  as  though  she 
desired  to  be  certified  in  her  judgment. 

"  When  the  sun  stood  there/'  answered  Zinti,  pointing 
to  a  certain  height  in  the  heavens. 

"  Yes,"  she  answered,  "  three  hours.  Bull-Head  has 
travelled  quicker  than  I  thought." 

"  No,"  said  Zinti,  "  but  I  think  that  he  knew  a  path 
through  the  big  vlei,  whereas  we  rode  round  it,  two  hours' 
ride,  fearing  lest  we  should  be  bogged.  Here  by  this 
spring  they  stayed  till  sunset,  for  it  was  needful  that  the 
horses  should  feed  and  rest,  since  they  would  save  their 
strength  in -them. 

"  Lady,"  went  on  Zinti  presently,  "  beyond  the  neck  of 


THE  HIDDEN  KRANTZ  159 

the  hill  yonder  lies  the  secret  kraal  of  Bull-Head.  Say, 
now,  what  is  your  plan  when  you  reach  it?  " 

"  I  do  not  know,"  she  answered,  "  but  tell  me  again  of 
the  hidden  krantz  where  the  women  built  the  new  hut, 
and  of  the  way  to  it." 

He  told  her  and  she  listened,  saying  nothing. 

"  Good,"  she  said,  when  he  had  done.  "  Now  lead  me 
to  this  place,  and  then  perhaps  I  will  tell  my  plan  if  I 
have  one." 

So  they  started  on  again,  but  just  as  they  reached  the 
crest  of  the  Nek  a  heavy  thunderstorm  came  up,  together 
with  clouds  and  rain,  hiding  everything  from  them. 

"  Now  I  suppose  that  we  must  stay  here  till  the  light 
comes,"  said  Sihamba. 

"  Not  so,  lady,"  answered  Zinti,  "  I  have  been  the 
path  once  and  I  can  go  it  again  in  storm  or  shine," 
and  he  pressed  forward,  with  the  lightning  flashes  for  a 
candle. 

Well  was  that  storm  for  them  indeed,  since  otherwise 
they  would  have  been  seen,  for  already  Swart  Piet  had  set 
his  scouts  about  the  kraal. 

At  length  Sihamba  felt  that  they  were  riding  among 
trees,  for  water  dripped  from  them  upon  her  and  their 
branches  brushed  her  face. 

"  Here  is  the  wood  where  the  women  cut  poles  for  the 
new  hut,"  whispered  Zinti  in  her  ear. 

"  Then  let  us  halt,"  she  answered,  and  dismounting  they 
tied  the  three  horses  and  the  mule  to  as  many  small  trees 
close  together,  but  not  near  enough  for  them  to  kick  each 
other. 

Now  Sihamba  took  a  piece  of  biltong  from  a  saddle-bag 
and  began  to  eat  it,  for  she  knew  that  she  would  need  all 
her  cleverness  and  strength.  "  Take  the  bag  of  mealies," 


160  SWALLOW 

she  said,  "  and  divide  it  among  the  horses  and  the  mule, 
giving  a  double  share  to  the  schimmel." 

Zinti  obeyed  her,  and  presently  all  four  of  the  beasts 
were  eating  well,-  for  though  they  had  travelled  far  their 
loads  were  light,  nor  had  the  pace  been  pressed. 

Sihamba  turned,  and,  holding  out  her  hands  towards 
the  horses,  muttered  something  rapidly. 

"  What  are  you  doing,  mistress?  "  asked  Zinti. 

"  Perhaps  I  am  throwing  a  charm  upon  these  animals, 
that  they  may  neither  neigh  nor  whinny  till  we  come  again, 
for  if  they  do  so  we  are  lost.  ISTow  let  us  go,  and — stay, 
bring  the  gun  with  you,  for  you  know  how  to  shoot." 

So  they  started,  slipping  through  the  wet  wood  like 
shadows.  For  ten  minutes  or  more  they  crept  on  thus 
towards  the  dark  line  of  cliff,  Zinti  going  first  and  feeling 
the  way  with  his  fingers,  till  presently  he  halted. 

"Hist!"  he  whispered.     "I  smell  people." 

As  he  spoke,  they  heard  a  sound  like  to  that  of  someone 
sliding  down  rocks.  Then  a  man  challenged,  saying, 
"  AVho  passes  from  the  krantz  ?  "  and  a  woman's  voice  an- 
swered, "  It  is  I,  Asika,  the  wife  of  Bull-Head."  "  I  hear 
you,"  answered  the  man.  "  Xow  tell  me,  Asika,  what  hap- 
pens yonder." 

"  What  happens?  How  do  I  know  what  happens?  "  she 
answered  crossly.  "About  sunset  Bull-Head  brought  home 
his  new  wife,  a  white  chieftainess,  for  whom  we  built  the 
hut  yonder;  but  the  fashions  of  marriage  among  these 
white  people  must  be  strange  indeed,  for  this  one  came 
to  her  husband,  her  feet  bound,  and  with  a  face  like  to 
the  face  of  a  dead  woman,  the  eyes  set  wide,  and  the  lips 
parted.  Yes,  and  they  blindfolded  her  in  the  wood  there 
and  carried  her  through  this  hole  in  the  rock  down  to  the 
hut  where  she  is  shut  in." 


THE  HIDDEN  KRANTZ  161 

"  I  know  something  of  this  matter,"  answered  the  man; 
"  the  white  lady  is  no  willing  wife  to  Bull-Head,  for  he 
killed  her  husband  and  took  her  by  force.  Yes,  yes,  I 
know,  for  my  uncle  was  one  of  those  with  him  when  the 
deed  was  done,  and  he  told  me  something  of  it  just  now." 

"  An  evil  deed,"  said  Asika,  "  and  one  that  will  bring 
bad  luck  upon  all  of  us;  but  then,  Bull-Head,  our  chief, 
is  an  evil  man.  Oh!  I  know  it  who  am  of  the  number  of 
his  Kaffir  wives.  Say,  friend,"  she  went  on,  "  will  you 
walk  a  little  way  with  me,  as  far  as  the  first  huts  of  the 
kraal,  for  there  are  ghosts  in  the  wood,  and  I  fear  to  pass 
it  alone  at  night." 

"  I  dare  not,  Asika,"  he  answered,  "  for  I  am  set  here 
on  guard." 

"  Have  no  fear,  friend,  the  chief  is  within,  seeing  to 
the  comfort  of  his  new  wife." 

"  Well,  I  will  come  with  you  a  little  way  if  you  wish  it, 
but  I  must  be  back  immediately,"  he  said,  and  the  listeners 
heard  them  walk  off  together." 

"  Xow,  Zinti,"  whispered  Sihamba,  "  lead  me  through 
the  hole  in  the  rock." 

So  he  took  her  by  the  hnnd  and  felt  along  the  face  of  the 
cliff  till  he  found  the  bush  which  covered  the  entrance. 
To  this  he  climbed,  dragging  her  after  him,  and  presently 
they  were  in  the  secret  krantz. 

"  We  have  found  our  way  into  the  spider's  nest,"  mut- 
tered Zinti,  who  grew  afraid;  "  but  say,  lady,  how  shall  we 
find  our  way  out  of  it  ?  " 

"  Lead  on  and  leave  that  to  me,"  she  answered.  "  Where 
I,  a  woman,  can  go,  surely  you  who  are  a  man  can  go 
also." 

"  I  trust  to  your  magic  to  protect  us — therefore  I  come," 

said  Zinti,  "  though  if  we  are  seen  our  death  is  sure." 
11 


162  SWALLOW 

On  they  crept  across  the  glen,  till  presently  they  heard 
the  sound  of  the  small  waterfall  and  saw  it  glimmering 
faintly  through  the  gloom  and  drizzling  rain.  To  their 
left  ran  the  stream,  and  on  the  banks  of  it  stood  something 
large  and  round. 

"  There  stands  the  new  hut  where  Swallow  is,"  whis- 
pered Zinti. 

Now  Sihamha  thought  for  a  moment  and  said: 

"  Zinti,  I  must  find  out  what  passes  in  that  hut.  Listen: 
do  you  lie  hid  among  the  reeds  under  the  bank  of  the 
stream,  and  if  you  hear  me  hoot  like  an  owl,  then  come  to 
me,  but  not  before." 

"  I  obey,"  answered  Zinti,  and  crept  down  among  the 
reeds,  where  he  crouched  for  a  long  time  up  to  his  knees 
in  water,  shivering  with  cold  and  fear. 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

WHAT  PASSED  IN  THE  HUT 

GOING  on  to  her  hands  and  knees  Sihamba  crawled  to- 
wards the  hut.  Now  she  was  within  ten  paces  of  it  and  could 
see  that  a  man  stood  on  guard  at  its  doorway.  "  I  must 
creep  round  to  the  back/'  she  thought,  and  began  to  do  so, 
heading  for  some  shrubs  which  grew  to  the  right.  Already 
she  had  almost  reached  them,  when  of  a  sudden,  and  for  an 
instant  only,  the  moon  shone  out  between  two  thick  clouds, 
revealing  her,  though  indistinctly,  to  the  eyes  of  the  guard. 
Now  Sihamba  was  wearing  a  fur  cape  made  of  wild  dog's 
hide,  and,  crouched  as  she  was  upon  her  hands  and  knees, 
half-hidden,  moreover,  by  a  tuft  of  dry  grass,  the  man 
took  her  to  be  a  wild  dog  or  a  jackal,  and  the  hair  which 
stood  out  round  her  head  for  the  ruff  upon  the  animal's 
neck. 

"  Take  that,  you  four-legged  night  thief,"  he  said  aloud, 
and  hurled  the  assegai  in  his  hand  straight  at  her.  The 
aim  was  good;  indeed,  had  she  been  a  dog  it  would  have 
transfixed  her.  As  it  was,  the  spear  passed  just  beneath 
her  body,  pinning  the  hanging  edges  of  the  cape  and  re- 
maining fixed  in  the  tough  leather.  Now  if  Sihamba's 
wit  had  left  her,  as  would  have  happened  with  most,  she 
was  lost,  but  not  for  nothing  had  she  been  a  witch- 
doctoress  from  her  childhood,  skilled  in  every  artifice  and 
accustomed  to  face  death.  From  his  words  she  guessed 


164  SWALLOW 

that  the  sentry  had  mistaken  her  for  a  wild  beast,  so 
instead  of  springing  to  her  feet  she  played  the  part  of  one, 
and  uttering  a  howl  of  pain  scrambled  away  among  the 
bushes.  She  heard  the  man  start  to  follow  her,  then  the 
moonlight  went  out  and  he  returned  to  his  post  grumbling 
over  his  lost  assegai  and  saying  that  he  would  find  it  in 
the  jackal's  body  on  the  morrow.  Sihamba,  listening  not 
far  away,  knew  his  voice;  it  was  that  of  the  fellow  who  had 
set  the  noose  about  her  neck  at  Swart  Piet's  bidding  and 
who  was  to  have  done  the  murder  in  the  pass. 

"  Now,  friend,  you  are  unarmed,"  she  thought  to  herself, 
"  for  you  have  no  gun  with  you,  and  perhaps  we  shall  settle 
our  accounts  before  you  go  to  seek  that  dead  jackal  by 
to-morrow's  light."  Then  drawing  the  assegai  from  the 
cloak  and  keeping  it  in  her  hand,  she  crept  on  till  she  came 
to  the  back  of  the  hut  in  safety.  Still  she  was  not  much 
nearer  to  her  end,  for  the  hut  was  new  and  very  well  built, 
and  she  could  find  no  crack  to  look  through,  though  when 
she  placed  her  ear  against  its  side  she  thought  that  she 
could  hear  the  sound  of  a  man's  voice.  In  her  perplexity 
Sihamba  cast  her  eyes  upwards  and  saw  that  a  fine  line  of 
light  shone  from  the  smoke-hole  at  the  very  top  of  the  hut, 
which  was  hive-shaped,  and  a  thought  came  into  her  head. 

"  If  I  climb  up  there,"  she  said  to  herself,  "  I  can  look 
down  through  the  smoke-hole  and  see  and  hear  what  passes 
in  the  hut.  Only  then  if  the  moon  comes  out  again  I  may 
be  seen  lying  on  the  thatch;  well,  that  I  must  chance  with 
the  rest." 

So  very  slowly  and  silently,  by  the  help  of  the  rimpis 
which  bound  the  straw,  she  climbed  the  dome  of  the  hut, 
laughing  to  herself  to  think  that  this  was  the  worst  of 
omens  for  its  owner,  till  at  length  she  reached  the  smoke- 
hole  at  the  top  and  looked  down. 


WHAT  PASSED  IN  THE  HUT  165 

This  was  what  she  saw:  Half  seated,  half  lying  upon  a 
rough  bedstead  spread  with  blankets,  was  Suzanne.  Her 
hair  had  come  undone  and  hung  about  her,  her  feet  were 
still  loosely  bound  together,  and  as  the  Kaffir,  Asika,  had 
said,  her  face  was  like  the  face  of  a  dead  woman,  and  her 
eyes  were  set  in  a  fixed  unnatural  stare.  Before  her  was 
a  table  cut  by  natives  out  of  a  single  block  of  wood,  on 
which  were  two  candles  of  sheep's  fat  set  in  bottles,  and 
beyond  the  table  stood  Swart  Piet,  who  was  addressing  her. 

"  Suzanne,"  he  said,  "  listen  to  me.  I  have  always  loved 
you,  Suzanne,  yes,  from  the  time  when  I  was  but  a  boy: 
we  used  to  meet  now  and  again,  you  know,  when  you  were 
out  riding  with  the  Englishman  who  is  dead  " — here  Su- 
zanne's face  changed,  then  resumed  its  deathlike  mask — 
"  and  always  I  worshipped  you,  and  always  I  hated  the 
Englishman  whom  you  favoured.  Well,  as  you  grew  older 
you  began  to  understand  and  dislike  me,  and  Kenzie  began 
to  understand  and  insult  me,  and  from  that  seed  of  slight 
and  insult  grew  most  that  is  bad  in  me.  Yes,  Suzanne, 
you  will  say  that  I  am  wicked;  and  I  am  wicked.  I  have 
done  things  of  which  I  should  not  like  to  tell  you.  I  have 
done  such  things  as  you  saw  last  night:  I  have  mixed  my- 
self up  with  Kaffir  wizardries  and  cmelties;  I  have  for- 
gotten God  and  taken  another  master,  and  so  far  from 
honouring  my  own  father,  why,  I  struck  him  down  when 
he  was  drunk  and  dared  me  to  do  it,  and  of  that  blow  they 
say  he  died.  Well,  I  owed  him  nothing  less  for  begetting 
me  into  such  a  world  as  this,  and  teaching  me  how  to  find 
the  devil  before  my  time. 

"  And  now,"  he  went  on  after  a  pause,  for  Suzanne 
answered  nothing,  "  standing  before  you  as  I  do  here 
with  your  husband's  blood  upon  my  hands,  and  seeking 
your  love  over  his  grave,  you  will  look  at  me  and  say — 


106  SWALLOW 

'  This  man  is  a  monster,  a  madman,  one  who  should  be  cast 
from  the  earth  and  stamped  deep,  deep  into  hell.'  Yes, 
all  these  things  I  am,  and  let  the  weight  of  them  rest  upon 
your  head,  for  you  made  me  them,  Suzanne.  I  am  mad,  I 
know  that  I  am  mad,  as  my  father  and  grandfather  were 
before  me,  but  my  madness  is  mixed  with  knowledge,  for 
in  me  runs  the  blood  of  the  old  Pondo  witch-doctoress,  my 
grandmother,  she  who  knew  many  things  that  are  not 
given  to  white  men.  When  I  saw  you  and  loved  you  I 
became  half  mad — before  that  I  was  sane — and  when  the 
Englishman,  Kenzie,  struck  me  with  the  whip  after  our 
fight  at  the  sheep-kraal,  ah!  then  I  went  wholly  mad,  and 
see  how  wisely,  for  you  are  the  first-fruits  of  my  madness, 
you  and  the  body  that  to-night  rolls  to  and  fro  in  the 
ocean. 

"  You  do  not  answer:  Well,  look  you,  Suzanne,  I  have 
won  you  by  craft  and  blood,  and  by  craft  and  blood  I  will 
keep  you.  Here  you  are  in  my  power,  here  Heaven  itself 
could  not  save  you  from  me,  in  Bull- Head's  secret  krantz 
which  none  know  of  but  some  few  natives.  Choose,  there- 
fore; forget  the  sins  that  I  have  committed  to  win  you  and 
become  my  wife  willingly,  and  no  woman  shall  ever  find  a 
better  husband,  for  then  the  fire  and  the  tempest  will  leave 
my  brain  and  it  will  grow  calm  as  it  was  before  I  saw  you. 

"  Have  you  still  no  answer?  Well,  I  will  not  hurry  you. 
See,  I  must  go — do  you  know  what  for?  To  set  scouts 
lest  by  any  chance  your  father  or  other  fools  should  have 
found  my  hiding-place,  though  I  think  that  they  can  never 
find  it  except  it  be  through  the  wisdom  of  Sihamba,  which 
they  will  not  seek.  Still  I  go,  and  in  an  hour  I  will  return 
for  your  answer,  which  you  must  make  then,  Suzanne,  since 
whether  you  desire  it,  or  desire  it  not,  fortune  has  given 
you  to  me.  Have  you  no  word  for  me  before  I  go?  " 


WHAT  PASSED  IN  THE  HUT  167 

Now  during  all  this  long,  half-insane  harangue,  Su- 
zanne had  sat  quite  silent,  making  no  reply  at  all,  not  even 
seeming  to  hear  the  demon,  for  such  he  was,  whose  wicked 
talk  denied  her  ears.  But  when  he  asked  her  whether  she 
had  nothing  to  say  to  him  before  he  went,  still  looking 
not  at  him,  but  beyond  him,  she  gave  him  his  answer  in 
one  word,  the  same  that  she  had  used  when  she  awoke 
from  her  swoon: 

"  Murderer." 

Something  in  the  tone  in  which  she  spoke,  or  perhaps 
in  the  substance  of  that  short  speech,  seemed  to  cow  him; 
at  the  least  he  turned  and  left  the  hut,  and  presently 
Sihamba  heard  him  talking  to  the  sentry  without,  bidding 
him  to  keep  close  watch  till  he  came  back  within  an  hour. 

When  Piet  went  out  he  left  the  door-board  of  the  hut 
open,  so  that  Sihamba  dared  neither  act  nor  speak,  fearing 
lest  the  guard  should  hear  or  see  her  through  it.  Therefore 
she  still  lay  upon  the  top  of  the  hut,  and  watched  through 
the  smoke-hole.  For  a  while  Suzanne  sat  quiet  upon  the 
bed,  then  of  a  sudden  she  rose  from  it,  and  shuffling  across 
the  hut  as  well  as  her  bound  feet  would  allow  her,  she 
closed  the  opening  with  the  door-board,  and  secured  it  by 
its  wooden  bar.  Next  she  icturned  to  the  bed  and,  seating 
upon  it,  clasped  her  hands  and  began  to  pray,  muttering 
aloud  and  mixing  with  her  prayer  the  name  of  her  husband 
Ralph.  Ceasing  presently,  she  thrust  her  hand  into  her 
bosom  and  drew  from  it  a  knife,  not  large,  but  strong  and 
very  sharp.  Opening  this  knife  she  cut  the  thong  that 
bound  her  ankles,  and  made  it  into  a  noose.  Then  she 
looked  earnestly  first  at  the  noose,  next  at  the  knife,  and 
thirdly  at  the  candles,  and  Sihamba  understood  that  she 
meant  to  do  herself  to  death,  and  was  choosing  between 
steel  and  rope  and  fire. 


168  SWALLOW 

Now  all  this  while,  although  she  dared  not  so  much  as 
whisper,  Sihamba  had  not  been  idle,  for  with  the  blade 
of  the  assegai  she  was  working  gently  at  the  thatch  of  the 
smoke-hole,  and  cutting  the  rimpis  that  bound  it,  till  at 
last,  and  not  too  soon,  she  thought  that  it  was  wide  enough 
to  allow  of  the  passage  of  her  small  body.  Then  watching 
until  the  guard  leaned  against  the  hut,  so  that  the  bulge  of 
it  would  cut  her  off  from  his  sight,  during  the  instant  that 
her  figure  was  outlined  against  the  sky,  she  stood  up,  and 
thrusting  her  feet  through  the  hole,  forced  her  body  to 
follow  them,  and  then  dropped  lightly  as  a  cat  to  the  floor 
beneath.  But  now  there  was  another  danger  to  be  faced, 
and  a  great  one,  namely,  that  Suzanne  might  cry  out  in 
fear,  which  doubtless  she  would  have  done,  had  not  the 
sudden  sight  of  some  living  creature  in  the  hut  where  she 
thought  herself  alone,  so  startled  her  that  for  a  moment 
she  lost  her  breath.  Before  she  could  find  it  again  Si- 
hamba was  whispering  in  her  ear,  saying: 

"  Keep  silence  for  your  life's  sake,  Swallow.  It  is  I, 
Sihamba,  who  am  come  to  save  you." 

Suzanne  stared  at  her,  and  light  came  back  into  the 
empty  eyes,  then  they  grew  dark  again,  as  she  answered 
below  her  breath: 

"  Of  what  use  is  my  life?  Kalph  is  dead,  and  I  was 
about  to  take  it  that  I  may  save  myself  from  shame  and  go 
to  seek  him,  for  surely  God  will  forgive  the  sin." 

Sihamba  looked  at  her  and  said: 

"  Swallow,  prepare  yourself  for  a  great  joy,  and,  above 
all,  do  not  cry  out.  Your  husband  is  not  dead,  he  was  but 
wounded,  and  I  drew  him  living  from  the  sea.  He  lies 
safe  at  the  stead  in  your  mother's  care." 

Suzanne  heard  her,  and,  notwithstanding  the  caution, 
still  she  would  have  cried  aloud  in  the  madness  of  her  joy. 


WHAT  PARSED  IN  THE  HUT  169 

had  not  Sihamba,  seeing  her  lips  opened,  thrust  her  hands 
upon  her  mouth  and  held  them  there  till  the  danger  was 
past. 

"  You  do  not  lie  to  me?  "  she  gasped  at  length. 

"  Nay,  I  speak  truth;  1  swear  it.  But  this  is  no  time  to 
talk.  Yonder  stand  food  and  milk;  eat  while  I  think/' 

As  Sihamba  guessed,  nothing  but  a  little  water  had 
passed  Suzanne's  lips  since  that  meal  which  she  and  her 
husband  took  together  beside  the  waggon,  nor  one  minute 
before  could  she  have  swallowed  anything  had  her  life 
been  the  price  of  it.  But  now  it  was  different,  for  despair 
had  left  her,  and  hope  shone  in  her  heart  again,  and  be- 
hold! of  a  sudden  she  was  hungry,  and  ate  and  drank  with 
gladness,  while  Sihamba  thought. 

Presently  the  little  woman  looked  up  and  whispered: 

"  A  plan  come*  into  my  head;  it  is  a  strange  one,  but  1 
can  find  no  other,  and  it  may  serve  our  turn,  for  I  think 
that  good  luck  goes  with  us.  Swallow,  give  me  the  noose 
of  hide  which  you  made  from  the  riem  that  bound  your 
feet." 

Suzanne  obeyed  her  wondering,  whereon  Sihamba  placed 
thu  noose  about  her  own  neck,  then  bade  Suzanne  stand 
upon  the  bed  and  thrust  the  end  of  the  riem  loosely  into  the 
thatch  of  the  hut  as  high  up  as  she  could  reach,  so  that  it 
looked  as  though  it  were  made  fast  there.  Next,  Sihamba 
slipped  off  her  fur  cloak,  leaving  herself  naked  except 
for  the  moocha  round  her  middle,  and,  clasping  her  hands 
bc-hind  her  back  with  the  assegai  between  them,  she  drew 
the  riem  taut,  and  leaned  against  the  wall  of  the  hut  after 
the  fashion  of  one  who  is  about  to  be  pulled  from  the 
ground  and  strangled. 

"  iSTow,  mistress,  listen  to  me,"  she  said  earnestly. 
'•'  You  have  seen  me  like  this  before,  have  you  not,  when  I 


170  SWALLOW 

was  about  to  be  hanged,  and  you  bought  my  life  at  a  price? 
Well,  as  it  chances,  that  man  who  guards  the  hut  is  he  who 
took  me  at  Bull-Head's  bidding  and  set  the  rope  round 
my  neck,  whereon  I  said  some  words  to  him  which  made 
him  afraid.  Now  if  he  sees  me  again  thus  in  a  hut  where 
he  knows  you  to  be  alone,  he  will  think  that  I  am  a  ghost, 
and  his  heart  will  turn  to  ice  and  the  strength  of  his  hands 
to  water,  and  then  before  he  can  find  his  strength  again  I 
shall  make  an  end  of  him  with  the  spear,  as  I  know  well 
how  to  do  although  I  am  so  small,  and  we  will  fly." 

"  Is  there  no  other  way?  "  murmured  Suzanne  aghast. 

"  None,  Swallow.  For  you  the  choice  lies  between  wit- 
nessing this  deed  and — Swart  Piet  or — Death.  Nay,  you 
need  not  witness  it  even,  if  you  will  do  as  I  tell  you.  Pres- 
ently, when  I  give  the  word,  loosen  the  bar  of  the  door- 
board,  then  crouch  by  the  hole  and  utter  a  low  cry  of  fear, 
calling  to  the  man  on  guard  for  help.  He  will  enter  and 
see  me,  whereon  you  can  creep  through  the  door-hole  and 
wait  without,  leaving  me  to  deal  with  him.  If  I  succeed 
I  will  be  with  you  at  once;  if  I  fail,  run  to  the  stream  and 
hoot  like  an  owl,  when  Zinti,  who  is  hidden  there,  will 
join  you.  Then  you  must  get  out  of  the  krantz  as  best  you 
can.  Only  one  man  watches  the  entrance,  and  if  needful 
Zinti  can  shoot  him.  The  schimmel  and  other  horses  arc 
hidden  in  the  wood,  and  he  will  lead  you  to  them.  Mount 
and  ride  for  home,  or  anywhere  away  from  this  accursed 
place,  and  at  times  when  you  talk  of  the  matter  of  your 
escape  with  your  husband,  think  kindly  of  Sihamba 
Ngenyanga.  Nay,  do  not  answer,  for  there  is  little  time 
to  lose.  Quick, now, to  the  door-hole, and  do  as  I  bade  you.'' 

So,  like  one  in  a  dream,  Suzanne  loosened  the  bar,  and, 
crouching  by  the  entrance  to  the  hut,  uttered  a  low  wail 
of  terror,  saying,  "  Help  me,  soldier,  help  me  swiftly,"  in 


WHAT  PASSED  IN  THE  HUT  171 

the  Kaffir  tongue.  The  man  without  heard,  and,  pushing 
down  the  board,  crept  in  at  once,  saying,  "  Who  harms 
you,  lady?  "  as  he  rose  to  his  feet.  Then  suddenly,  in  this 
hut,  where  there  was  but  one  woman,  a  white  woman, 
whom  he  himself  had  carried  into  it,  he  beheld  another 
woman — Sihamba;  and  his  hair  stood  up  upon  his  head 
and  his  eyes^grew  round  with  terror.  Yes,  it  was  Sihamba 
herself,  for  the  light  of  the  candles  shone  full  upon  her,  or, 
rather,  her  ghost,  and  she  was  hanging  to  the  roof,  the 
tips  of  her  toes  just  touching  the  ground,  as  once  he  had 
seen  her  hang  before. 

For  some  seconds  the  man  stared  in  his  terror,  and  while 
he  stared  Suzanne  slipped  from  the  hut.  Then  muttering, 
"  It  is  the  spirit  of  the  witch,  Sihamba,  who  prophesied  my 
death — her  spirit  that  haunts  me,"  he  dropped  to  his  knees, 
and,  trembling  like  a  leaf,  turned  to  creep  from  the  hut. 
Xext  second  he  was  dead,  dead  without  a  sound,  for  Si- 
hamba was  a  doctoress,  and  knew  well  where  to  thrust  with 
the  spear. 

Of  all  this  Suzanne  heard  nothing  and  saw  nothing,  till 
presently  Sihamba  stood  by  her  side  holding  the  skin  cape 
in  one  hand  and  the  spear  in  the  other. 

"  Now  one  danger  is  done  with,"  she  said  quietly,  as  she 
put  on  the  cape,  "  but  many  still  remain.  Follow  me, 
Swallow,"  and,  going  to  the  edge  of  the  stream,  she  hooted 
like  an  owl,  whereupon  Zinti  came  out  of  the  reeds,  looking 
very  cold  and  frightened. 

"  Be  swift,"  whispered  Sihamba,  and  they  started  along 
the  krantz  at  a  run.  Before  they  were  half  way  across  it, 
the  storm-clouds,  which  had  been  thinning  gradually, 
broke  up  altogether,  and  the  moon  shone  out  with  a  bright 
light,  showing  them  as  plainly  as  though  it  were  day;  but 
as  it  chanced  they  met  nobody  and  were  seen  of  none. 


172  SWALLOW 

At  length  they  reached  the  cleft  in  the  rock  that  led  to 
the  plain  below.  "  Stay  here/'  said  Sihamba,  "  while  I 
look,"  and  she  crept  to  the  entrance.  Presently  she  re- 
turned and  said: 

"  A  man  watches  there,  and  it  is  not  possible  to  slip 
past  him  because  of  the  moonlight.  Now,  I  know  of  only 
one  thing  that  we  can  do;  and  you,  Zinti,  must  do  it.  Slip 
down  the  rock  and  cover  the  man  with  your  gun,  saying  to 
him  that  if  he  stirs  a  hand  or  speaks  a  word  you  will  shoot 
him  dead.  Hold  him  thus  till  we  are  past  you  on  our  way 
to  the  wood,  then  follow  us  as  best  you  can,  but  do  not  fire 
except  to  save  your  life  or  ours." 

Now  the  gifts  of  Zinti  lay  rather  in  tracking  and  remem- 
bering paths  and  directions  than  in  fighting  men,  so  that 
when  he  heard  this  order  he  was  afraid  and  hesitated.  But 
when  she  saw  it,  Sihamba  turned  upon  him  so  fiercely 
that  he  feared  her  more  than  the  watchman,  and  went  at 
once,  so  that  this  man  who  was  half  asleep  suddenly  saw 
the  muzzle  of  a  roer  within  three  paces  of  his  head  and 
heard  a  voice  command  him  to  stand  still  and  silent  or 
die.  Thus  he  stood  indeed  until  he  perceived  that  the  new 
wife  of  his  chief  was  escaping.  Then  remembering  what 
would  be  his  fate  at  the  hands  of  Bull-Head  he  determined 
to  take  his  chance  of  being  shot,  and,  turning  suddenly, 
sped  towards  the  kraal  shouting  as  he  ran,  whereon  Zinti 
fired  at  him,  but  the  ball  went  wide.  A  cannon  could 
scarcely  have  made  more  noise  than  did  the  great  roer  in 
the  silence  of  the  night  as  the  report  of  it  echoed  to  and 
fro  among  the  hills. 

"  Oh !  fool  to  fire,  and  yet  greater  fool  to  miss,"  said  Si- 
hamba. "  To  the  horses!  Swift!  swift!  " 

They  ran  as  the  wind  runs,  and  now  they  were  in  the 
wood,  and  now  they  had  found  the  beasts. 


WHAT  PASSED  IN  THE  HUE  173 

"  Praise  to  the  Snake  of  my  house!  "  said  Sihamba, 
"  they  are  safe,  all  four  of  them,"  and  very  quickly  they 
untied  the  riems  by  which  they  had  fastened  the  horses 
to  the  trees. 

"  Mount,  Swallow,"  said  Sihamba,  seizing  the  head  of 
the  great  scliimrnel. 

Suzanne  set  her  foot  upon  the  shoulder  of  Zinti,  who 
knelt  to  receive  it,  and  sprang  into  the  saddle.  Then 
having  lifted  Sihamba  on  to  the  grey  mare  Zinti  mounted 
the  other  horse  himself, holding  the  mule  by  a  leadingriem. 

u  Which  way,  mistress?  "  he  asked. 

"  Homewards,"  she  answered,  and  they  cantered  forward 
through  the  wood. 

On  the  further  side  of  this  wood  was  a  little  sloping  plain 
not  more  than  three  hundred  paces  wide,  and  beyond  it  lay 
the  seaward  Nek  through  which  they  must  pass  on  their 
journey  to  the  stead.  Already  they  were  out  of  the  wood 
and  upon  the  plain,  when  from  their  right  a  body  of 
horsemen  swooped  towards  them,  seven  in  all,  of  whom 
one,  the  leader,  was  Swart  Piet  himself,  cutting  them  off 
from  the  Nek.  They  halted  their  horses  as  though  to 
a  word  of  command,  and  speaking  rapidly,  Sihamba  asked 
•of  Zinti:  "  Is  there  any  other  pass  through  yonder  range, 
for  this  one  is  barred  to  us?  " 

"  None  that  I  know  of,"  he  answered;  "  but  I  have  seen 
that  the  ground  behind  us  is  flat  and  open  as  far  as  the 
great  peak  which  you  saw  rising  on  the  plain  away  beyond 
the  sky-line." 

"  Good,"  said  Sihamba.  "  Let  us  head  for  the  peak, 
since  we  have  nowhere  else  to  go,  and  if  we  are  separated, 
let  us  agree  to  meet  upon  its  southern  slope.  Now,  Zinti, 
loose  the  mule,  for  we  have  our  lives  to  save,  and  ride  on, 
remembering  that  Death  is  behind  vou." 


CHAPTEK    XIX 

HOW   THE    SCHIMMEL    CEOSSED   THE    BED    WATER 

WHEN  they  turned  their  horses'  heads,  Swart  Piet  and 
his  men  were  not  much  more  than  a  hundred  paces  from 
them,  but  in  the  wood  they  gained  much  ground,  for  he 
did  not  think  that  they  would  dare  to  leave  it,  and  hunted 
for  them  there  while  they  were  racing  over  the  open  plain 
more  than  a  mile  away.  At  last  he  caught  sight  of 
them  crossing  a  distant  ridge,  and  the  long  chase  began. 
For  hour  after  hour  they  galloped  on  through  the  moon- 
light across  the  wide  and  rolling  veldt  until  the  moon 
sank,  and  they  must  pick  their  way  as  best  they  could  in 
the  darkness.  Then  came  the  dawn,  and  still  they  rode 
forward,  though  now  the  horses  were  beginning  to  grow 
weary,  except  the  schimmel,  who  pulled  upon  his  bit  as 
though  he  were  fresh  from  the  stable.  In  front  of  them, 
some  twenty  miles  away,  rose  the  lofty  peak  for  which 
they  were  heading,  and  behind  lay  the  great  expanse  of 
plain  which  they  had  passed.  Suzanne  looked  back  over 
her  shoulder,  but  there  was  no  one  in  sight. 

"  Let  us  halt/'  she  said,  "  and  rest  ourselves  and  the 
horses."  So  they  pulled  up  by  a  stream  and  suffered  the 
beasts  to  drink  some  water,  though  not  much,  while  they 
themselves  devoured  biltong,  of  which  they  had  a  little  in 
the  saddle-bags. 


HOW  THE  SCHIMMEL  CROSSED  THE  RED  WATER  175 

"  Why  do  we  ride  for  the  peak?  "  asked  Suzanne. 

"  Because  there  are  places  where  we  may  lie  hid,"  Si- 
hamba  answered,  "  and  thence  we  can  make  our  way  down 
to  the  seashore  and  so  back  homewards,  whereas  here  upon 
the  plain  we  can  be  seen  from  miles  away." 

"Do  any  people  live  on  the  peak?" 

"  Yes,  Swallow;  it  is  the  home  of  the  great  chief  Sigwe, 
the  chief-paramount  of  the  Eed  Kaffirs,  who  counts  his 
spears  by  thousands,  but  I  have  heard  that  he  is  away  to 
the  north  upon  a  war  which  he  makes  against  some  of  the 
Swazi  tribes  with  whom  he  has  a  quarrel." 

"  Will  the  people  of  Sigwe  protect  us,  Sihamba?  " 

"  Perhaps.  We  shall  see.  At  least,  you  are  safer  with 
them  than  in  the  hands  of  Swart  Piet." 

At  this  moment,  Zinti,  who  was  watching  the  plain 
over  which  they  had  travelled,  uttered  a  cry  of  warning. 
Looking  back,  they  saw  the  reason  of  it,  for  there,  crossing 
the  crest  of  a  wave  of  ground,  not  more  than  a  mile  away, 
were  five  horsemen  riding  hard  upon  their  spoor. 

"  Swart  Piet  and  four  of  his  men,"  said  Sihamba,  "  and 
by  my  Spirit,  they  have  fresh  horses;  they  must  have  taken 
them  from  the  kraal  of  the  half-breed  which  we  passed  at 
daybreak,  and  that  is  why  we  lost  sight  of  them  for  a 
while." 

Now  even  as  Zinti  helped  her  to  mount  the  schimmel 
Suzanne  turned  so  faint  with  terror  that  she  almost  fell 
to  the  ground  again. 

"  Have  no  fear,  Swallow,"  said  Sihamba,  "  he  has  not 
caught  us  yet,  and  a  voice  in  me  says  that  we  shall  escape 
him." 

But  though  she  spoke  thus  bravely,  in  her  heart  Sihamba 
was  much  afraid,  for  except  the  schimmel  their  horses  were 
almost  spent,  whereas  Van  Vooren  was  fresh  mounted,  and 


176  SWALLOW 

not  a  mile  behind.  Still  they  galloped  forward  till  they 
reached  a  more  broken  stretch  of  veldt,  where  trees  grew 
singly,  and  here  and  there  were  kloofs  with  bush  in  them. 

"  Mistress,"  cried  Zinti,  "  my  horse  can  go  no  more, 
and  Bull-Head  is  hard  upon  us.  Of  your  wisdom  tell  me 
what  I  should  do  or  presently  I  must  be  killed/' 

"  Ride  into  that  kloof  and  hide  yourself,"  answered  Si- 
hamba,  "  for  Bull-Head  will  never  seek  you  there;  he  hunts 
the  white  Swallow,  not  the  black  finch.  Afterwards  you 
can  follow  on  our  spoor,  and  if  you  cannot  find  us,  make 
your  way  back  to  the  Baas  Botmar  and  tell  him  all  you 
know.  Quick,  into  the  kloof,  for  here  they  cannot  see 
you." 

"  I  hear  you,  lady,"  said  Zinti,  and  the  next  minute  they 
saw  him  leading  his  weary  horse  into  the  shelter  of  the 
thick  bush,  for  the  poor  beast  could  carry  him  no  more. 

For  the  next  three  miles  the  ground  trended  downwards 
to  the  banks  of  a  great  river,  beyond  which  were  the  gentle 
rising  slopes  that  surrounded  the  foot  of  the  high  peak. 
On  they  galloped,  the  schimmel  never  faltering  in  his 
swinging  stride,  although  his  flanks  grew  thin  and  his  eyes 
large.  But  with  the  grey  mare  it  was  otherwise,  for  though 
she  was  a  gallant  nag  her  strength  was  gone.  Indeed,  with 
any  heavier  rider  upon  her  back,  ere  this  she  would  have 
fallen.  But  still  she  answered  to  Sihamba's  voice  and 
plunged  on,  rolling  and  stumbling  in  her  gait. 

"  She  will  last  till  the  river,"  she  said,  seeing  Suzanne 
look  at  the  mare. 

"  And  then ?  "  gasped  Suzanne,  glancing  behind  her 

to  where,  not  five  hundred  yards  away,  Swart  Piet  and  his 
Kaffirs  hunted  them  sullenly  and  in  silence,  as  strong  dogs 
hunt  down  a  wounded  buck. 

"  And  then — who  knows?  "  answered  Sihamba,  and  they 


HOW  THE  SCHIMMEL  CROSSED  THE  RED  WATER  177 

went  on  without  more  words,  for  they  had  no  breath  to 
spare. 

Now,  not  half  a  mile  away,  they  came  in  sight  of  the 
river,  which  had  been  hidden  from  them  before  by  the  lie 
of  the  ground,  and  a  groan  of  despair  broke  from  their 
lips,  for  it  was  in  flood.  Yes,  the  storms  in  the  mountains 
had  swollen  it,  and  it  rolled  towards  the  sea  a  red  flood  of 
foam-flecked  water,  well-nigh  two  hundred  yards  from 
bank  to  bank.  Still  they  rode  on,  for  they  dared  not  stop, 
and  presently  behind  them  they  heard  a  shout  of  triumph, 
and  knew  that  their  pursuers  had  also  seen  the  Red  Water, 
and  rejoiced  because  now  they  had  them  in  a  trap. 

Within  ten  yards  of  the  lip  of  the  river,  the  grey  mare 
stopped  suddenly,  shivered  like  a  leaf  in  the  wind  and 
sank  to  the  ground. 

"  Now,  Swallow/'  said  Sihamba  as  she  slipped  from  the 
saddle,  "  you  must  choose  between  that  raging  torrent 
and  Swart  Piet.  If  you  choose  the  torrent  the  great  horse 
is  still  strong  and  he  may  swim  through;  I  can  say  no 
more." 

"  And  you?  "  asked  Suzanne. 

"I?  I  bide  here,  and  oh!  I  would  that  Zinti  had  left 
the  gun  with  me." 

"  Never,"  cried  Suzanne.  "  Together  we  will  live  or 
die.  Mount,  I  say — mount.  Xay,  if  you  refuse  I  will 
throw  myself  into  the  water  before  your  eyes." 

Then  seeing  that  she  would  indeed  do  no  less,  Sihamba 
took  her  outstretched  hand,  and  placing  her  foot  upon  the 
foot  of  Suzanne,  scrambled  up  upon  the  pad  in  front  of 
her,  whereat  the  pursuers,  who  now  were  little  over  two 
hundred  yards  away,  laughed  out  loud,  and  Swart  Piet 
shouted  to  Suzanne  to  yield.  But  they  did  not  laugh 
long,  for  Sihamba,  having  first  bent  her  head  and  kissed 
12 


178  SWALLOW 

Suzanne  on  the  hand,  leaned  forward  and  began  to  stroke 
the  schimmel's  neck  and  to  whisper  into  his  ear,  till  indeed 
it  seemed  as  though  the  great  brute  that  loved  her  under- 
stood. At  the  least  he  pricked  his  ears  and  tossed  his 
head,  then  looked,  first  round  at  the  horses  that  drew  near, 
and  next  at  the  foaming  flood  in  front. 

"  Sit  fast,  Swallow/'  said  Sihamba,  and  then  she  cried 
a  word  aloud  to  the  horse,  and  struck  it  lightly  with  her 
hand.  At  the  sound  of  that  word  the  stallion  drew  himself 
together,  sprang  forward  with  two  bounds  over  the  ten 
paces  of  level  bank  and  leapt  far  out  into  the  flood  that 
foamed  beneath.  Down  sank  the  horse  and  his  riders  till 
the  lied  Water  closed  over  their  heads,  then  they  rose  again 
and  heard  the  shout  of  wonder  of  their  enemies,  who  by 
now  had  almost  reached  the  bank.  With  a  yell  of  rage 
Black  Piet  rode  his  horse  at  the  river,  for  to  do  him  justice 
he  was  a  brave  man,  but  do  what  he  might  it  would  not 
face  it,  so  with  the  others  he  sat  still  and  watched. 

Now  the  schiminel  struck  out  bravely,  heading  for  the 
other  bank,  but  in  the  fierce  current  it  was  not  possible 
that  any  horse  should  reach  it  swimming  in  a  straight  line, 
for  the  weight  of  the  stream  was  too  great.  Sihamba  had 
noted,  however,  that  from  the  further  shore,  but  two  or 
tbree  hundred  paces  lower  down  the  river,  a  little  point  of 
land  projected  into  it,  and  this  the  horse  had  seen  also,  or 
perhaps  she  told  him  of  it,  at  least  for  that  point  he  swam 
steadily.  In  five  minutes  they  were  in  the  centre  of  the 
torrent,  and  here  it  ran  with  a  roar  and  mighty  force  so 
that  its  waves  began  to  break  over  the  schimmel's  head, 
and  they  feared  that  he  would  drown.  So  much  did  Si- 
hamba fear  it,  indeed,  that  she  slipped  from  his  back,  and 
leaving  Suzanne  to  cling  to  the  saddle,  caught  hold  of  his 
mane,  floating  alongside  of  him  and  protected  by  his  neck 


HO  W  THE  SC HIM  MEL  CROSSED  THE  RED  WATER  179 

from  the  whirl  of  the  water.  Lying  thus  she  continued 
to  call  to  the  horse  and  to  urge  him  forward,  and  ever  he 
answered  to  her  words,  so  that  although  twice  he  nearly 
sank,  in  the  end  he  set  his  feet  upon  a  sandbank  and,  hav- 
ing rested  there  a  while,  plunged  forward,  half  wading 
and  half  swimming,  to  the  projecting  point  of  land,  up 
which  he  scrambled,  still  carrying  Suzanne  and  dragging 
Sihamba  with  him,  until  once  more  they  found  themselves 
safe  upon  the  solid  earth,  where  he  stood  shaking  himself 
and  snorting. 

Suzanne  slipped  from  the  saddle  and  lay  flat  upon  the 
ground,  looking  at  the  awful  water  they  had  passed,  and  by 
her  lay  Sihamba.  Presently  the  little  doctoress  spoke. 

"  It  is  well  to  have  lived,"  she  said,  "  if  only  to  have 
dared  that  deed,  for  no  others  have  ever  made  the  passage 
across  the  Red  Water  in  flood,  two  of  them  on  one  tired 
horse/'  and  she  caught  in  her  arms  the  muzzle  of  the 
schimmel  that  hung  above  her,  pressing  it  to  her  breast  as 
though  it  had  been  a  child,  whereon  the  brute  whinnied 
faintly,  knowing  well  that  she  was  thanking  him  for  his 
toil  and  courage. 

"  I  pray  God  that  I  may  never  be  called  upon  to  make 
it  again,"  answered  Suzanne,  staggering  to  her  feet,  the 
water  running  from  her  dripping  dress  as  she  turned  to 
look  across  the  river. 

Xow,  when  Van  Yoorcn's  horse  refused  to  face  the 
stream,  he  had  ridden  up  and  down  shouting  like  a  mad- 
man; once  even  he  lifted  his  gun  and  pointed  it,  then  let 
it  fall  again,  remembering  that  he  could  not  make  sure 
of  hitting  the  horse,  and  that  if  he  did  so  Suzanne  must 
certainly  be  drowned.  When  they  were  quite  beyond  bis 
reach  in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  be  stood  still  and 
watched  until  he  saw  them  come  to  the  further  shore  in 


180  SWALLOW 

safety.  Then  he  called  his  men  about  him  and  consulted 
with  them,  and  the  end  of  it  was  that  they  rode  off  in  a 
body  up  the  bank  of  the  river. 

"  They  go  to  seek  a  ford/'  said  Suzanne. 

"  Yes,  Swallow,  but  now  we  shall  have  the  start  of  them. 
Come,  let  us  mount." 

So  they  climbed  upon  the  back  of  the  schimmel,  and 
once  more  he  went  on  with  them,  not  fast,  for  now  he 
could  not  even  canter,  but  ambling  or  walking,  according 
to  the  nature  of  the  ground,  at  a  rate  perhaps  of  seven 
miles  the  hour.  Soon  they  had  left  the  river  and  were  toil- 
ing up  the  slopes  of  the  peak,  until  presently  they  struck  a 
well-worn  footpath. 

"  I  think  that  this  must  lead  to  the  town  of  Sigwe,"  said 
Sihamba. 

"  I  pray  that  it  does/'  answered  Suzanne,  "  and  that  it  is 
not  far,  for  I  feel  as  though  Death  were  near  to  me." 

"  Keep  a  great  heart,"  said  Sihamba,  "  for  we  have  met 
Death  face  to  face  and  conquered  him." 

So  still  they  toiled  on  till  at  length  the  path  took  a 
turn,  and  there,  in  a  fold  of  the  hill,  they  beheld  the  great 
kraal  of  Sigwe,  a  very  large  Kaffir  town.  Before  the  kraal 
was  a  wide  open  space,  and  on  that  space  armed  men  were 
assembled,  several  full  regiments  of  them.  In  front  of 
this  impi  was  gathered  a  company  of  chiefs. 

"  Xow  we  have  no  choice,"  said  Sihamba,  and  turned 
the  schimmel  towards  them,  while  all  that  army  stared  at 
this  strange  sight  of  two  women,  one  tall  and  fair,  one 
black  and  little,  riding  towards  them  mounted  together 
upon  a  great  blood  horse  which  was  so  weary  that  he  could 
scarcely  set  one  foot  before  the  other. 

When  they  reached  the  captains  Sihamba  slipped  to  the 
ground,  but  Suzanne  remained  seated  upon  the  schimmel. 


110W  THE  SCIIIMMEL  CROSSED  THE  RED  WATER  181 

u  Who  are  you?"  asked  a  broad  man  in  a  leopard-skin 
cloak,  of  Sihamba;  but  although  she  was  small  and  dishev- 
elled, her  hair  and  garments  being  wet  with  water,  he  did 
not  laugh  at  her,  for  he  saw  that  this  stranger  had  the  air 
of  one  who  is  of  the  blood  of  chiefs. 

"  I  am  Sihamba  Ngenyanga,  the  doctoress,  of  whom  you 
may  have  heard/'  she  answered;  and  some  of  the  people 
said,  "  We  have  heard  of  her;  she  is  a  great  doctoress." 

"  To  what  people  do  you  belong,  Sihamba?"  asked  the 
captain  again. 

"  I  belong  to  the  people  of  Zwide,  whom  Chaka  drove 
from  Zululand,  and  by  birth  I  am  the  chieftainess  of  the 
Umpondwana,  who  live  in  the  mountain  Umpondwana, 
and  who  were  the  Children  of  Zwide,  but  are  now  the 
Children  of  Chaka." 

"  Why  then  do  you  wander  so  far  from  home,  Sihamba  ?  " 

"  For  this  reason.  When  Zwide  and  his  people,  the 
Endwandwe,  were  driven  back,  my  people,  the  Umpond- 
wana, who  were  subject  to  Zwide,  made  peace  with  Chaka 
against  my  will.  Therefore,  because  I  would  not  live  as 
a  Zulu  dog,  I  left  them." 

"  Although  your  body  is  small  you  have  a  large  heart," 
said  the  captain,  and  one  of  his  people  cried  out:  "  The 
story  of  Sihamba  is  true,  for  when  you  sent  me  as  mes- 
senger to  the  Endwandwe,  I  heard  it — it  is  a  tale  there." 

Then  the  captain  asked,  "  And  who  is  the  beautiful 
white  woman  who  sits  upon  the  great  horse  ?  " 

"  She  is  my  mother  and  my  sister  and  my  mistress, 
whom  I  serve  till  death,  for  she  saved  me  from  death,  and 
her  name  is  Swallow." 

Now  at  this  word  Swallow,  most  of  those  present  started, 
and  some  uttered  exclamations  of  wonder,  especially  a  little 
band  of  people,  men  and  women,  who  stood  to  the  left, 


182  SWALLOW 

and  who  from  their  dress  and  other  tokens  it  was  easy  to 
see  were  witch-doctors  and  diviners.  Sihamba  noted  the 
movements  and  words  of  wonder,  hut  pretending  to  see 
nothing  she  went  on: 

"  The  lady  Swallow  and  I  have  fled  hither  from  far, 
hoping  to  find  the  chief  Sigwe,  for  we  need  his  counsel 
and  protection,  hut  he  is  away,  making  war  to  the  north, 
is  it  not  so?  " 

"  Nay,"  answered  the  captain.  "  I  am  the  chief  Sigwe, 
and  I  have  not  yet  begun  my  war." 

"  I  am  glad,"  said  Sihamba.  "  Chief,  listen  to  my 
tale  and  suffer  us  to  creep  into  the  shadow  of  your 
strength —  •"  and  in  a  few  words  she  told  them  the  story 
of  the  capture  of  Suzanne  by  Swart  Piet  and  of  their 
flight  from  him.  Now  when  she  spoke  of  Van  Vooren,  or 
of  Bull-Head  rather,  for  she  called  him  by  his  native  name, 
she  saw  that  Sigwe  and  the  captains  looked  at  each  other, 
and  when  she  told  how  they  had  swum  the  Red  Water 
in  flood,  the  two  of  them  upon  one  horse,  she  was  sure  that 
they  did  not  believe  her,  for  such  a  deed  they  thought 
to  be  impossible.  But  still  Sihamba  went  on  and  ended — 
"  Chief,  we  seek  this  from  you;  protection  from  Bull-Head, 
who  doubtless  will  be  here  ere  long,  and  an  escort  of  spears 
to  lead  us  down  the  coast  to  the  home  of  the  Swallow,  a 
hundred  miles  away,  where  they  and  you  will  be  well 
rewarded  for  the  service.  Answer  us  quick,  chief,  I  pray 
you,  for  our  need  is  great  and  we  are  weary." 


CHAPTER    XX 

THE    OMEX    OF    THE  WHITE    SWALLOW. 

Now  Sigwe  and  two  of  his  captains  walked  to  where  the 
diviners  stood  and  took  counsel  with  them,  speaking  low 
and  earnestly.  Then  he  returned  and  said: 

"  Sihamba,  Walker-by-Moon light,  and  you,  Lady  Swal- 
low, listen  to  me.  A  wonderful  thing  has  come  to  pass  in 
the  kraal  of  Sigwe  this  day,  such  a  thing  as  our  fathers 
have  not  known.  You  see  that  my  host  is  gathered  yon- 
der: well,  to-morrow  the}'  start  to  make  war  upon  these 
very  Endwandwe  of  whom  you  have  spoken  because  of  a 
deadly  insult  which  they  have  put  upon  me  and  my  house. 
Therefore,  according  to  custom,  this  morning  the  soldiers 
were  assembled  at  dawn  to  be  doctored  and  that  the 
diviners  might  search  out  the  omens  of  the  war.  So  the 
diviners  searched,  and  she  who  was  chosen  among  them 
ate  the  medicine  and  sank  into  the  witch  sleep  here  before 
us  all.  Yes,  this  one,"  and  he  pointed  to  a  tall  woman 
with  dreamy  eyes  who  was  bedizened  with  bones  and  snake- 
skins. 

"  Now  in  her  sleep  she  spoke,  and  we  hung  upon  her 
words,  for  we  knew  that  they  would  be  the  words  of  omen. 
Sihamba,  these  were  the  words,  as  all  can  testify: 

"Thus  say  the  spirits  of  your  fathers,  and  thus  speaks  the 
Snake  of  your  tribe.  Tnless  a  Wliite  Swallow  guide  your 
footsteps  in  the  war  with  the  Men  of  the  Mountains  you 


184  SWALLOW 

shall  perish  and  your  impis  shall  be  scattered,  but  if  a 
White  Swallow  flies  before  your  spears  then  but  little  of 
your  blood  shall  be  shed,  and  you  shall  return  with  honour 
and  with  you  one  whom  you  seek.  Only  the  Swallow  shall 
not  return  with  you,  for  if  she  set  her  face  southward,  then, 
Sigwe,  woe  to  you  and  your  armies.' 

"  Sihamba,  these  were  the  words  of  the  dreamer. 
Scarcely  was  she  awake  again,  while  he  wondered  at  their 
strangeness,  and  asked  her  questions  of  their  meaning, 
which  she  could  not  answer,  for  here  the  wisdom  of  the 
wisest  was  at  fault,  lo!  you  rode  over  the  hill,  and  with  you 
a  beautiful  white  woman  whose  name  you  say  is  Swallow. 
Yes,  this'  is  the  White  Swallow  who  shall  fly  in  front  of 
my  regiments,  bringing  me  honour  and  good  fortune  in 
the  war,  and  therefore,  Sihamba,  your  prayer  is  granted, 
though  not  all  of  it,  for  you  shall  go  northward  and  not 
southward,  and  among  your  own  people  I  will  leave  you  and 
the  Swallow  with  you,  and  for  her  sake  I  will  spare  your 
people,  the  people  of  Umpondwana,  although  they  are  sub- 
ject to  my  foes,  the  Endwandwe,  and  of  the  same  blood. 
Moreover,  while  you  are  among  us  all  honour  shall  be  done 
to  you  and  the  Swallow,  and  of  the  cattle  we  capture  a 
tenth  part  shall  be  the  Swallow's.  Still,  I  tell  you  this, 
that  had  it  not  been  for  the  omen  of  the  diviner  I  would 
have  refused  your  prayer  and  delivered  you  and  the  Swal- 
low over  to  Bull  Head,  for  with  him  I  have  sworn  friend- 
ship long  ago.  But  now  the  face  of  things  is  changed,  and 
should  he  come  with  a  hundred  men  armed  with  guns  yet 
I  will  protect  you  from  him,  and  the  Swallow  also;  yes, 
though  oaths  must  be  broken  to  do  it." 

When  they  heard  this  saying,  Suzanne  and  Sihamba 
looked  at  each  other  in  dismay. 

"  Alas!  "  said  Suzanne,  "  it  seems  that  we  do  but  change 


THE  OMEN  OF  THE    WHITE  SWALLOW         185 

one  prison  for  another,  for  now  we  must  be  borne  away  to 
tbe  far  north  to  do  battle  with  this  Kaffir  chief.,  and  there 
be  left  among  your  people,  so  that  none  will  know  what  has 
become  of  us,  and  the  heart  of  Ralph  will  break  with  doubt 
and  sorrow;  yes,  and  those  of  my  parents  also." 

"  It  is  bad,"  answered  Sihamba,  "  but  had  not  yonder 
diviner  dreamed  that  dream  of  a  swallow,  it  would  have 
been  worse.  Better  is  it  to  travel  in  all  honour  with  the 
impis  of  Sigwe  than  to  be  dragged  back  by  Bull-Head  to 
his  secret  kraal — I  to  be  done  to  death  there  and  you  to  the 
choice  of  which  you  know.  For  the  rest  we  must  take  our 
chance  and  escape  when  the  time  comes,  and  meanwhile 
we  will  send  a  message  to  the  stead." 

Now  Suzanne  heard  her,  and  sat  upon  the  horse  think- 
ing, for  her  trouble  was  sore;  still,  she  could  see  no  way 
out  of  the  net  which  had  meshed  her.  As  she  thought,  a 
man  who  was  herding  cattle  on  the  mountain  ran  up  to  the 
chief  and  saluted  him,  saying  that  five  men,  one  of  them 
white,  rode  towards  his  kraal.  When  Suzanne  heard  this 
she  hesitated  no  more,  but  cried  out  to  the  chief 
Sigwe,  speaking  in  the  Kaffir  tongue,  which  she  knew 
well : 

"  Chief  Sigwe,  swear  to  me  that  you  will  not  suffer  Bull- 
Head  so  much  as  to  touch  me  or  my  sister  Sihamba,  and 
that  while  we  dwell  with  you  you  will  treat  us  with  all 
honour,  and  I,  who  am  named  Swallow,  yes,  I,  the  White 
Swallow  of  the  diviner's  dream,  will  lead  your  armies  to 
the  northern  land,  bringing  you  the  good  fortune  which 
is  mine  to  give  to  others,  though  myself  I  know  it  not." 

"  I  swear  it  by  the  spirits  of  my  fathers,  lady,"  answered 
Sigwe,  "  and  these  my  counsellors  and  headmen  swear  it 
also." 

"  Yes,"  echoed  the  counsellors,  "  we  swear  it,  all  of  it, 


186  SWALLOW 

and  while  one  of  us  is  left  alive  the  oath  shall  be  fulfilled, 
0  White  Bird  of  good  omen." 

Then  Sigwe  gave  an  order,  and  at  his  bidding  five  hun- 
dred soldiers,  the  half  of  a  regiment,  ran  up  and  formed  a 
circle  about  Sihamba  and  Suzanne,  who  still  sat  upon  the 
scJiimmel,  white-faced  and  wearied,  her  hair  hanging  down 
her  back.  Scarcely  was  the  circle  made  when  from  round 
the  shoulder  of  the  hill  appeared  Swart  Piet  and  with  him 
his  four  after-riders. 

Seeing  all  the  great  array,  he  halted  for  a  moment  aston- 
ished, then  catching  sight  of  Suzanne  set  up  above  the 
heads  of  the  ring  of  soldiers,  he  rode  straight  to  Sigwe,  who, 
with  his  counsellors  and  guards,  was  standing  outside  the 
circle. 

"  Chief  Sigwe,"  he  said,  "  a  wife  of  mine  with  her  ser- 
vant has  escaped  from  me,  and  as  I  suspected  taken  refuge 
in  your  kraal,  for  I  see  her  sitting  yonder  surrounded  by 
your  soldiers.  ]STow,  in  the  name  of  our  friendship,  I  pray 
you  hand  them  over  to  me  that  I  may  lead  them  back  to 
their  duty." 

"  I  give  you  greeting,  Bull-Head,"  answered  Sigwe 
courteously,  "  and  I  thank  you  for  your  visit  to  my  town; 
presently  an  ox  shall  be  sent  for  you  to  cat.  As  for  this 
matter  of  the  white  lady  and  her  companion  it  is  one  that 
we  can  inquire  into  at  leismre.  I  hear  that  she  is  the 
daughter  of  the  big  Boor  whom  the  natives  of  the  coast 
name  Thick- Arm;  also  that  you  murdered  the  lady's  hus- 
band and  carried  her  off  by  force  to  be  your  wife  instead  of 
his.  Xow  here,  as  you  know,  I  am  chief  paramount,  for 
having  of  our  blood  in  your  veins  you  understand  onr 
customs,  and,  therefore,  I  must  sec  justice  done,  especially 
as  I  do  not  wish  to  bring  a  quarrel  with  the  white  people 
upon  our  heads.  So  off-saddle  a  while,  and  to-morrow  be- 


THE  OMEN  OF  THE   WHITE  SWALLOW          187 

fore  I  start  upon  a  certain  journey,  1  will  summon  my 
counsellors  and  we  will  try  the  case." 

Now  by  this  time  Swart  Piet,  who,  as  Sigwe  had  said, 
understood  the  customs  of  the  Kaffirs,  knew  very  well  that 
the  chief  was  making  excuses,  and  would  not  surrender 
Suzanne  to  him.  For  a  while  he  had  kept  himself  calm, 
but  when  this  knowledge  came  home  to  his  mind  his  reason 
left  him,  and  he  grew  more  than  commonly  mad  with  rage 
and  disappointment,  for  after  all  his  crimes  and  toil  Su- 
zanne was  now  as  far  from  him  as  ever.  Springing  from 
his  horse,  but  still  keeping  the  gun  in  his  hand,  he  ran  up 
to  the  triple  ring  of  soldiers,  pausing  only  at  the  hedge  of 
assegais  which  shone  about  it. 

"Open,"  he  said,  "open,  you  red  dogs!"  but  not  a 
spear  moved.  Twice  he  ran  round  the  circle,  then  he 
stopped  and  cried,  "  Sihamba.  Is  Sihamba  here?" 

"  Surely,  Bull-Head,"  answered  the  little  woman,  walk- 
ing forward  from  where  she  stood  behind  the  sckimmel. 
"  Where  else  should  I  be?  I  pray  you,  soldiers,  draw  a 
little  way  but  not  far  apart,  that  yonder  half-breed  may 
satisfy  his  eyes  with  the  sight  of  me.  So,  a  little  way,  but 
not  far,  for  I  who  know  him  like  him  best  at  a  distance. 
Now,  Bull  Head,"  she  went  on,  "  what  is  it  that  you  wish 
to  talk  about — the  Englishman,  Ralph  Kenzie,  the  hus- 
band of  Swallow  yonder?  You  thought  you  killed  him. 
Well,  it  was  not  so;  I  lifted  him  living  from  the  water,  and 
I,  who  am  a  doctoress,  tell  you  that  his  wound  is  of  no 
account,  and  that  soon  he  will  be  strong  again  and  seeking 
a  word  with  you,  Half-breed.  Xo,  not  of  him?  Then 
perhaps  it  is  of  your  hidden  krantz  and  the  new  hut  you 
built  in  it.  Bah!  I  knew  its  secret  long  ago  and — that 
hut  has  too  wide  a  smoke-hole,  do  back  and  ask  him  who 
guarded  it  if  this  is  not  true.  What!  Not  of  that  either? 


188  SWALLOW 

Then  would  you  speak  of  the  ride  which  we  have  taken? 
Ah!  man,  I  thought  at  least  that  you  were  no  coward,  and 
yet  even  when  you  had  us  in  your  hand,  you  did  not  dare 
to  face  the  Eed  Water  which  two  women  swam  on  one  tired 
horse.  Look  at  him,  soldiers,  look  at  the  brave  cross-bred 
chief  who  dared  not  swim  his  horse  across  one  little 
stream." 

ISTow  while  the  soldiers  laughed  Swart  Piet  stamped 
upon  the  ground,  foaming  with  rage,  for  Sihamba's  bitter 
words  stuck  in  him  like  barbed  assegais. 

"  Snake's  wife,  witch!  "  he  screamed,  "  I  will  catch  you 
yet,  and  then  you  shall  learn  how  slowly  a  woman  may  die, 
yes,  and  her  also,  and  she  shall  learn  other  things,  for  if 
that  husband  cf  hers  is  not  dead  I  will  kill  him  before  her 
eyes.  I  tell  you  I  will  follow  you  both  through  all  Africa 
and  across  the  sea  if  needful;  yes,  whenever  you  lie  down  to 
sleep,  you  may  be  sure  that  Piet  van  Vooren  is  not  far 
from  you." 

"  Do  you  say  so  ?  "  mocked  Sihamba.  "  Well,  now  I 
think  of  it  you  have  no  luck  face  to  face  with  me,  Half- 
breed,  and  were  I  you,  I  should  look  the  other  way  when 
you  saw  me  coming,  for  I  who  have  the  Sight  tell  you  that 
when  you  behold  the  Walker-by-Moonlight  for  the  last 
time,  you  will  very  soon  become  a  walker  in  the  darkness 
for  ever.  Bah!  "  she  went  on,  her  clear  voice  rising  to  a 
cry.  "  Bastard,  dog,  thief,  murderer  that  you  are!  I,  Si- 
hamba, who  have  met  and  beaten  you  in  every  pool  of  the 
stream,  will  beat  you  for  the  last  time  where  the  stream 
falls  into  the  sea.  Be  not  deceived,  yonder  Swallow  never 
shall  be  yours;  for  many  and  many  a  year  after  you  are 
dead,  your  rival  shall  fold  her  close,  and  when  men  name 
your  name  they  shall  spit  upon  the  ground.  Nothing, 
nothing  shall  be  yours,  but  shame  and  empty  longing  and 


THE  OMEN  OF  THE   WHITE  SWALLOW         189 

black  death,  and  after  it  the  woe  of  the  wicked.  Get  you 
back  to  your  secret  krantz  and  your  Kaffir  wives,  Half- 
breed,  and  tell  them  the  tale  of  your  ride,  and  of  how  you 
did  not  dare  to  face  the  foam  of  the  Red  Water/' 

Now  Van  Vooren  went  mad  indeed;  so  mad  that,  for- 
getting he  was  not  on  the  lonely  veldt,  he  lifted  his  gun 
and  fired  straight  at  Sihamba.  But  her  eye  was  quick,  and 
seeing  the  muzzle  rise,  she  threw  herself  upon  the  ground, 
so  that  the  ball  passed  over  her. 

"  Why,  Half-breed,  have  you  even  forgotten  how  to 
shoot?  "  she  called,  springing  to  her  feet  again  and  mock- 
ing him.  Then  the  voice  of  Sigwe  broke  in,  for  his  anger 
was  deep. 

"  One  thing  you  have  certainly  forgotten,  Bull-Head," 
he  said,  "  that  these  two  are  my  guests  and  wrapped  in 
my  kaross,  and  therefore  from  this  hour  we  are  enemies. 
Ho!  men,"  he  cried  to  his  guard,  "  I  spare  Bull-Head's  life 
because  once  we  were  friends,  therefore  do  not  take  his 
life,  but  beat  him  and  those  with  him  out  of  my  town  with 
the  shafts  of  your  assegais,  and  if  ever  he  sets  foot  within 
it  again  then  use  their  blades  upon  him." 

At  tbeir  chief's  bidding  the  soldiers  of  the  guard  sprang 
forward,  and,  falling  upon  Tan  Vooren  and  those  with 
him,  they  flogged  them  with  sticks  and  the  shafts  of  their 
spears  until  from  head  to  foot  they  were  nothing  but  blood 
and  bruises,  and  thus  they  drove  them  out  of  the  town  of 
Sigwe  back  to  the  ford  of  the  Red  River. 

When  they  were  gone,  Suzarne,  who  thought  it  all  had 
sat  upon  the  horse  watching  in  silence,  now  urged  him 
forward  to  where  Sigwe  stood,  and  said: 

"  Chief,  I  thank  you  for  that  deed,  and  now,  I  pray  you. 
give  us  food  and  a  hut  to  rest  in,  for  we  are  wet  and  hungry 
and  worn  out  with  loner  travel." 


190  SWALLOW 

So  the  guest  masters  led  them  into  the  fence  of  the 
town  and  gave  them  the  guest  hut,  the  largest  in  the  kraal, 
and  the  best  food  that  they  had — milk  and  meal  and  beef 
and  eggs,  as  much  as  they  would  of  it.  The  schimmel  also 
was  fastened  to  a  post  in  the  little  courtyard  of  the  hut, 
and  a  Kaffir  who  once  had  served  as  groom  to  a  white  man, 
washed  him  all  over  with  warm  water.  Afterwards  he  was 
given  a  mash  of  meal  to  eat,  and,  later,  when  he  was  a  little 
rested,  his  fill  of  good  forage,  which  he  ate  gladly,  for, 
though  he  was  very  tired  and  his  legs  were  somewhat 
swollen,  otherwise  he  was  none  the  worse  for  that  great 
ride. 

In  the  shelter  of  the  hut  Suzanne  took  off  her  clothes, 
remembering  with  a  sort  of  wonder  how  she  had  put  them 
on  the  morning  of  her  marriage,  which  now  seemed  years 
ago,  and  bathed  herself  with  water.  Then  Sihamba  having 
given  the  garments  to  a  waiting  woman  to  wash,  wrapped 
her  in  a  soft  kaross  of  fur,  and  after  drinking  some  milk 
and  eating  a  little,  Suzanne  laid  herself  down  upon  a  mat- 
tress made  of  the  husks  of  mealie  cobs,  and  even  as  she 
thanked  God  Who  had  brought  her  safely  through  so  many 
dangers  past,  and  prayed  Him  to  protect  her  in  those  that 
were  to  come,  and  to  comfort  the  heart  of  her  husband  in 
his  sickness  and  affliction,  she  fell  asleep.  When  she  saw 
her  sleeping,  but  not  before,  Sihamba  crept  to  her  feet,  for 
now  that  all  was  over  she  could  scarcely  walk,  and  laying 
herself  down  there  slept  also. 

All  the  rest  of  the  day  they  slept,  and  all  the  night  that 
followed,  nor  did  they  wake  till  sunrise  of  the  next  morn- 
ing, when  women  of  the  household  of  the  chief  knocked 
upon  the  door-board  to  ask  if  they  needed  aught.  Then 
they  rose  feeling  well  and  strong  again  except  for  the 
stiffness  of  their  limbs,  and  Suzanne  clothed  herself  in  the 


191 

garments  that  the  woman  had  washed,  combing  her  dark 
hair  with  a  Kaffir  comb.  Afterwards  they  ate  heartily 
of  the  good  food  that  was  brought  to  them,  and  left  the  hut 
to  visit  the  schimmel,  that  they  found  almost  recovered  and 
devouring  Kaffir  sugar-cane,  though  like  themselves  he  was 
somewhat  stiff. 

Presently,  while  they  stroked  and  fondled  him,  a  messen- 
ger came,  saying  that  if  it  pleased  the  lady  Swallow,  the 
chief  Sigwe  would  take  counsel  with  her  in  the  place  of 
audience.  So  after  a  little  while  they  went,  and  as  they 
passed  out  of  the  kraal  fence,  Suzanne  was  received  with  a 
chief's  salute  by  the  escort  that  was  waiting  for  her.  Then 
surrounding  her  and  Sihamba,  they  led  them  to  the  place 
of  audience,  a  circle  of  ground  enclosed  by  a  high  double 
fence,  and  as  Suzanne  entered  it  once  more  all  present 
there,  including  Sigwe  himself,  gave  her  the  salute  oi 
chiefs. 

But  though  it  was  strange  enough  that  such  a  thing 
should  happen  to  a  white  woman,  at  the  time  Suzanne  took 
little  notice  of  the  salute  or  aught  else,  for  there  standing 
before  her,  looking  much  bewildered  and  very  weary,  was 
none  other  than  Zinti  and  with  him  Sihamba's  horse,  and 
also  that  mule  laden  with  goods,  which  they  had  abandoned 
in  the  wood  nearly  a  hundred  miles  away,  when  they  came 
face  to  face  with  Van  Yooren  and  his  riders  and  turned  to 
begin  their  long  flight  for  life  and  liberty. 


CHAPTEE    XXI 

THE   VISION   OF   EALPH    AND    SUZANNE 

"  SIHAMBA,"  said  the  chief  Sigwe,  "  this  man  who  was 
found  wandering  upon  the  outskirts  of  the  town.,  declares 
that  he  is  your  servant,  and  that  he  comes  to  seek  you.  Is 
it  so?" 

"  It  is  so,  indeed,  chief,"  she  answered,  "  though  I 
scarcely  expected  to  see  him  again,"  and  she  told  how  they 
two  and  Zinti  had  parted. 

Then  Zinti  was  commanded  to  tell  his  tale,  and  from  it 
it  seemed  that  after  he  had  rested  some  hours  in  the  kloof 
he  crept  to  the  mouth  of  it,  and,  hidden  behind  a  stone, 
saw  Swart  Piet  and  his  servants  pass  quite  close  to  him  on 
their  homeward  way.  A  sorry  sight  they  were,  for  three 
of  their  horses  were  lame,  so  that  the  riders  were  obliged 
to  walk  and  lead  them,  and  the  men  themselves  had  been 
so  bruised  with  the  spear-shafts  that  they  seemed  more 
dead  than  alive.  Swart  Piet  rode  last  of  all,  and  just 
then  he  turned,  and  looking  towards  the  peak  shook  his 
fist  as  though  threatening  it,  and  cursed  aloud  in  Dutch 
and  Kaffir.  Indeed,  Zinti  said  that  his  head  and  face  were 
so  swollen  with  blows  that  had  it  not  been  for  his  large 
round  eyes  he  could  not  have  known  him,  and  Sihamba 
thought  that  very  good  tidings. 

Well,  when  they  had  gone  Zinti  took  heart,  for  it  was 


THE    VISION  OF  RALPH  AND  SUZANNE         193 

plain  that  they  had  been  roughly  handled,  and  had  failed 
to  catch  his  mistress  or  the  Swallow.  So  he  went  back  to 
where  he  had  left  his  horse  eating  a  little  grass,  and  since 
it  was  too  weak  to  carry  him  he  led  it,  following  Van 
Vooren's  spoor  backwards  till  in  the  evening  he  came  to 
the  ford  of  the  Eed  Eiver.  Here  he  halted  for  the  night, 
knee-haltering  the  horse,  and  leaving  it  loose  to  graze, 
though  he  himself  had  nothing  to  eat.  At  the  first  grey 
of  dawn  he  awoke,  and  was  astonished  to  see  a  second 
animal  feeding  with  the  horse,  which  proved  to  be  none 
other  than  the  mule  that,  as  these  creatures  sometimes 
will,  had  followed  the  spoor  of  his  companion,  Sihamba's 
horse,  till  it  found  it  again.  After  this  he  crossed  the 
drift,  riding  slowly  and  leading  the  mule,  till  shortly  after 
sunrise  he  came  to  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  where  Sigwe's 
watchmen  found  him  and  brought  him  to  the  chief. 

"  This  man  is  a  servant  worth  having,"  said  Sigwe  when 
he  had  heard  the  story.  "  Let  food  be  given  to  him  and 
to  the  beasts." 

When  Zinti  had  gone  Sigwe  spoke  to  Suzanne. 

"  Lady  Swallow,"  he  paid,  "  as  you  have  heard,  by  the 
command  of  the  spirits  of  my  ancestors  speaking  through 
the  mouth  of  the  diviner,  while  you  are  with  us,  you  and 
not  I  are  the  captain  of  my  army,  and  must  lead  it  in  this 
great  war  which  I  make  against  the  Endwandwe.  Now 
the  regiments  are  ready  to  march,  and  I  ask  if  it  be  your 
pleasure  that  we  should  set  out  to-morrow  at  the  dawn,  for 
time  presses,  and  the  Endwandwe  live  very  far  away?  " 

"  Your  will  is  my  will,  chief,"  she  answered,  for  she 
could  see  no  way  of  escape  from  this  strange  journey,  "  but 
I  desire  to  learn  the  cause  of  this  war  which  T  must  lead 
by  the  decree  of  the  spirits  of  your  ancestors." 

Now  Sigwe  gave  an  order  to  some  attendants  waiting 
13 


194  SWALLOW 

• 

upon  him,  who  went  away  to  return  presently  leading  with 
them  a  woman.  This  woman  was  about  fifty  years  of  age, 
very  fat  in  person,  sour-faced,  yellow-toothed,  and  with 
one  eye  only. 

"  There  is  the  cause,"  exclaimed  the  chief,  at  the  same 
time  turning  his  back  upon  the  woman  and  spitting  upon 
the  ground  as  though  in  disgust. 

"  I  do  not  understand,"  said  Suzanne. 

"  Then  listen,  Lady  Swallow.  Sikonyana,  the  chief  of 
the  Endwandwe,  has  a  sister  named  Batwa,  whose  beauty 
is  famous  throughout  all  the  world,  and  for  her  by  my 
envoys  I  made  an  offer  of  marriage,  intending  that  she 
should  be  my  head  wife,  for  I  desired  to  be  the  husband 
of  the  most  beautiful  woman  in  the  world." 

"  I  saw  Batwa  when  she  was  still  a  child,"  broke  in 
Sihamba;  "  indeed,  she  is  my  cousin,  and  it  is  true  that  she 
is  most  beautiful." 

"  The  chief  Sikonyana,"  went  on  Sigwe,  "  answered  me 
that  he  was  much  honoured  by  my  offer  since  he  knew 
me  to  be  the  greatest  man  of  all  this  country,  but  that  at 
the  same  time  his  sister  was  not  to  be  won  with  a  small 
price;  yet  if  I  would  send  a  thousand  head  of  cattle,  half 
of  them  black  and  half  white,  she  should  be  mine.  Then 
with  much  pain  I  collected  these  cattle,  two  years  did 
it  take  me  to  gather  them  together,  for  here  oxen  and  cows 
pure  white  and  pure  black  are  not  common,  and  I  sent 
them  with  an  impi  to  guard  them,  for  nothing  less  would 
suffice,  to  the  kraal  of  the  chief  of  the  Endwandwe. 

"  Four  moons  was  that  impi  gone,  while  I  awaited  its 
return,  eating  out  my  heart  with  impatience.  At  length  it 
did  return,  bringing  with  it  my  bride.  At  nightfall  it 
marched  into  the  town  hungry  and  tired,  for  it  had  suf- 
fered much  upon  the  journey,  and  twice  had  been  forced 


THE   VISION  OF  RALPH  AND  SUZANNE         195 

to  give  battle  to  the  armies  of  other  chiefs,  but  although 
I  was  eager  to  see  her  I  did  not  look  upon  my  new  wife 
that  night.  No,  I  sent  out  messengers  and  gathered  to- 
gether all  my  army  and  all  the  people  young  and  old, 
yonder  in  the  plain  of  assembly.  Then  when  they  were 
mustered  from  far  and  near,  I  commanded  that  Batwa,  the 
sister  of  Sikonyana,  should  be  produced  in  the  face  of  the 
people  that  her  loveliness  might  shine  upon  me  and  upon 
them  as  the  sun  shines  equally  upon  us  all. 

"  Lady  Swallow,  the  moment  came,  and  this  old  woman 
was  brought  out;  yes,  she  strutted  before  us  proudly,  this 
one-eyed  hag,  this  cat  of  the  mountains.  For  her  I  had 
sent  an  impi,  for  her  I  had  paid  a  thousand  head  of  cattle, 
half  of  them  pure  black  and  half  pure  white —  "  and 
Sigwe  ceased,  gasping  with  rage. 

Now  at  this  story  Suzanne,  who  had  not  smiled  for  days, 
laughed  aloud,  while  even  Sihamba  the  wise  looked  down 
studying  the  earth.  But  there  was  one  who  did  not  laugh, 
and  it  was  the  one-eyed  woman.  No,  she  sprang  up  and 
screamed  aloud: 

"  Dog  of  a  red  Kaffir,  who  are  you  that  dare  to  talk 
thus  of  a  princess  of  the  blood  of  the  Endwandwe,  a  prin- 
cess whom  Chaka,  the  great  king,  wished  to  take  to  wife? 
You  asked  for  Batwa  in  marriage,  Batwa,  the  sister  to 
Sikonyana,  and  I  am  Batwa  the  sister  of  Sikonyana." 

"  Then,  hag,  there  must  be  two  Batwas,"  shouted  Sigwe 
in  answer. 

"  Two  Batwas!  "  she  screamed.  "  Fool  and  beast,  there 
are  four!  In  our  race  all  the  women  of  royal  blood  are 
named  Batwa,  and  I  am  the  eldest  and  the  wisest  and  the 
best  of  them,  for  I  am  older  than  my  brother  Sikonyana 
by  twenty  years,  I,  who  have  had  three  husbands  and  out- 
lived them  all;  whereas  the  chit  of  whom  you  talk,  a  thing 


196  SWALLOW 

with  a  waist  like  a  reed  and  an  eye  like  a  sick  buck,  is  his 
junior  by  ten  years,,  being  a  child  of  our  father's  last  wife.'' 

"  It  may  be  so/'  answered  Sigwe,  "  for  aught  I  know, 
every  woman  of  your  accursed  tribe  is  named  Batwa,  but 
this  I  say,  that  very  soon  there  will  be  few  Batwas  left  to 
look  upon  the  sun,  for  to-morrow  I  march  against  them 
and  I  will  stamp  the  house  of  Batwa  fiat,  and  you  I  will 
hang  to  the  roof-tree  of  the  hut  of  the  chief  your  brother; 
yes,  I  keep  you  alive  that  I  may  hang  you  there,  so  until 
then  you  have  nothing  to  fear  from  me." 

"  Is  it  so,  is  it  so,  indeed?  "  shrieked  the  virago;  "  then 
I  am  safe,  for,  little  red  Kaffir,  I  shall  live  to  see  you  and 
your  cowards  beaten  out  of  the  country  of  the  Endwandwe 
with  whips  of  hide."  . 

"  Take  her  away,"  groaned  Sigwe,  "  before  I  break  my 
word  and  hang  her  at  once,  which  I  do  not  wish  to  do," 
and  Batwa  the  eldest  was  led  off  still  screaming  curses. 

When  she  had  gone,  after  consulting  apart  for  a  while 
with  Sihamba,  Suzanne  spoke. 

"  Now,  chief,"  she  said,  "  I  understand  the  cause  of 
this  war  and  in  truth  it  is  a  strange  one.  Still,  as  I  must 
lead  your  armies,  and  as  I  do  not  love  to  see  men  killed 
for  such  a  quarrel,  here  and  before  we  start  I  will  lay 
down  the  terms  of  peace  if  it  should  please  Sikonyana  and 
the  people  of  the  Endwandwe  to  accept  them.  Subject 
to  your  wisdom  they  shall  be  these:  If  Sikonyana  will 
give  to  you  that  Batwa  whom  you  desire  in  the  place  of 
the  Batwa  whom  you  do  not  desire,  paying  back  to  you  the 
thousand  head  of  cattle,  and  by  way  of  fine  for  his  deceit, 
if  indeed  he  meant  to  deceive  you,  for  you  do  not  seem  to 
have  told  him  which  of  the  many  Batwas  you  sought,  two 
thousand  other  head  of  cattle,  then  no  blood  shall  be  shed 


THE    VISION  OF  RALPH  A XI)  SUZANNE          197 

and  you  and  your  impi  shall  return  in  peace  and  honour. 
If  he  will  not  do  this,  then  the  war  must  go  as  it  is  fated. 
Say,  do  you  consent  as  1  counsel  you  to  do?  for  otherwise, 
although  I  go  with  you  my  goodwill  will  not  go,  since  I 
am  the  Swallow  of  peace  and  not  the  Hawk  of  war." 

Xow  there  followed  a  great  indaba  or  debate  between 
Sigwe  and  his  counsellors  and  captains,  some  of  them  tak- 
ing one  view  of  the  matter,  and  some  of  them  the  other, 
but  the  end  of  it  was  that  the  party  of  peace  prevailed,  it 
being  agreed  between  them  that  if  the  Endwandwe  would 
grant  these  terms  and  in  addition  an  ox  for  every  man 
who  might  die  or  be  killed  upon  the  journey,  the  impi 
should  return  without  putting  the  matter  to  the  chance  of 
war,  and  this  the  chief  and  his  counsellors  swore  solemnly 
to  Suzanne.  Indeed  Sigwe  was  glad  to  swear  it,  for  he 
sought  that  Batwa  for  whom  he  longed  rather  than  the 
dangers  of  battle  and  the  risk  of  defeat  in  a  far  land,  while 
those  who  were  for  fighting  at  all  costs  thought  that  the 
oath  meant  little,  since  they  did  not  believe  that  the  great 
Sikonyana  would  make  peace  upon  such  terms. 

When  this  matter  was  settled  Suzanne  prayed  the  chief 
that  he  would  allow  her  to  send  Zinti  as  a  messenger  to 
her  husband  and  father  to  tell  them  that  she  lived  and  was 
well.  But  on  this  matter,  and  this  only,  Sigwe  would  not 
listen  to  her,  and  though  he  gave  many  reasons  for  his 
refusal,  the  true  one  was  that  he  feared  lest  the  white  men, 
on  learning  her  whereabouts,  should  gather  a  commando 
and  send  it  to  take  her  from  him,  as  doubtless  we  should 
have  done  had  it  been  in  any  way  possible. 

Indeed,  the  foolish  dream  of  the  diviner  as  to  the  lead- 
ing of  his  army  by  a  white  swallow,  followed  as  it  chanced 
to  be  by  the  arrival  at  his  town  of  a  woman  who  was 
named  Swallow,  had  taken  such  a  hold  of  Sigwe — who, 


198  SWALLOW 

like  all  savages,  was  very  superstitious — that  for  nothing 
which  could  have  been  offered  to  him  would  he  have 
consented  to  let  Suzanne  go  until  the  war  with  the  End- 
wandwe  was  finished.  Eather  than  do  so  he  would  have 
fought  till  the  last,  and  he  issued  an  order  that  if  any  man, 
woman,  or  child  spoke  of  Suzanne's  presence  in  his  town 
to  strangers  they  should  be  put  to  death  without  mercy. 
Moreover,  in  his  terror  lest  she  should  escape,  he  set  a 
guard  over  her  and  Sihamba  day  and  night  and  other 
guards  over  the  horses  and  the  lad  Zinti,  so  that  they  soon 
learned  that  all  hopes  of  flight  must  be  abandoned  and  that 
it  was  not  possible  even  to  send  a  messenger  or  a  letter. 

As  may  be  guessed  this  was  a  sore  grief  to  Suzanne,  so 
great  a  grief  that  when  they  were  back  in  the  guest-hut 
she  wept  long  and  bitterly,  for  her  heart  ached  with  her 
own  sorrow,  and  she  knew  well  how  deep  would  be  the 
torment  of  mind  of  Ralph  if  he  still  lived,  and  of  us,  her 
father  and  mother,  when  we  learned  that  she  had  vanished 
quite  away,  and  that  none  could  tell  what  her  fate  had 
been.  At  first  she  thought  of  bidding  Zinti  slip  away 
under  cover  of  the  night,  but  Sihamba  showed  her  that 
even  if  he  could  do  so,  which  was  not  likely,  the  end  of  it 
must  be  that  he  would  be  followed  and  put  to  death,  and 
that  then  his  blood  would  be  upon  their  hands  and  no 
good  done.  Afterwards  she  tried  to  bribe  and  to  command 
several  men  of  her  guard  to  take  the  message,  but  in  this 
matter  alone  the  people  of  Sigwe  would  not  obey  her,  for 
they  knew  the  doom  which  awaited  them  if  they  listened 
to  her  pleading.  So,  when  she  spoke,  they  looked  into  the 
air  over  her  head,  and  did  not  seem  to  hear,  although  after- 
wards they  reported  her  words  to  Sigwe,  whereupon  that 
chief  doubled  the  guard,  setting  a  second  to  watch  the 
first. 


THE    VISION  OF  RALPH  AND  SUZANNE         199 

And  now  I  have  to  tell  you  one  of  the  strangest  things 
in  the  strange  story  of  the  love  of  Ralph  Kenzie  and  my 
daughter  Suzanne.  It  will  be  remembered  that  it  was  by 
means  of  a  dream — or  so  the  child  declared — that  Suzanne 
was  led  to  where  the  boy  Ralph  lay  alone  and  starving  in 
the  kloof.  So  now  in  this  second  great  crisis  of  their  lives, 
it  was  by  means  of  a  dream  that  comfort  was  brought  to 
the  hearts  of  both  of  them,  enabling  them,  as  I  believe,  to 
bear  the  terrors  of  those  long  years  of  tidingless  terror  and 
separation,  that  otherwise  would  have  broken  down  their 
minds  and  perhaps  have  killed  them. 

It  seems,  as  Suzanne  told  me  in  after  days,  that  before 
she  slept  that  night,  there  in  the  guest-hut  of  Sigwe,  she 
prayed  long  and  earnestly  as  those  who  have  faith  do  pray 
when  they  lie  under  the  shadow  of  an  overwhelming  grief. 
She  prayed  that  God  would  bring  about  what  she  was  un- 
able to  bring  about,  namely,  that  her  husband  should  learn 
that  she  was  unharmed  and  well,  and  that  she  might  learn 
how  it  went  with  him,  seeing  that  for  aught  she  knew,  by 
now  he  might  be  dead  of  his  wounds.  Well,  that  prayer 
was  heard,  for  I  myself  can  testify  to  it,  as  the  prayer  of 
faith  is  so  often  heard;  yes,  that  which  seemed  to  be  im- 
possible was  done,  for  in  the  watches  of  the  night  these  two 
who  lay  a  hundred  miles  apart,  one  of  them  a  prisoner  in 
the  town  of  a  savage,  and  the  other  helpless  upon  a  bed  of 
pain,  had  sight  and  speech  of  each  other. 

Still  praying,  Suzanne  fell  asleep.  Then  of  a  sudden 
it  seemed  as  though  space  had  no  bars  for  her,  for  she 
awoke,  or  thought  that  she  awoke,  in  the  guest-hut  of 
Sigwe,  since  she  could  hear  the  breathing  of  Sihamba  at 
her  side,  and  stretching  out  her  hand  she  touched  her  face. 
But  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  there  came  a  change,  for. 
still  wide  awake,  now  she  was  standing  in  the  stead  at 


200  SWALLOW 

home  just  within  the  door  of  her  own  sleeping-room. 
There  upon  the  bed  lay  her  husband,  fevered  and  uncon- 
scious, but  muttering  to  himself,  while  bending  over  him 
were  I,  her  mother,  and  a  strange  man  whom  she  did  not 
know,  but  who,  as  she  guessed,  must  have  been  roused 
from  his  sleep,  for  his  hair  was  dishevelled  and  he  was 
half-clothed. 

To  this  man  she  heard  me — her  mother — talking.  "  The 
fever  runs  so  high,  doctor,"  I  said,  "  that  I  made  bold  to 
wake  you  from  your  rest,  for  I  fear  lest  it  should  burn  his 
life  away."  Thereupon  she  saw  the  man  look  at  Ralph, 
feeling  his  pulse,  and  heard  him  answer  as  he  examined  the 
bandages  of  the  wound,  "  His  hurt  does  well,  and  I  do  not 
think  that  the  fever  comes  from  it.  It  comes  from  his 
mind,  and  it  is  there  that  the  danger  lies,  for  who  can 
doctor  a  broken  heart?  " 

"  Heaven  only,"  I  replied. 

"  Yes,"  he  said,  "  Heaven  only.  And  now,  Vrouw  Bot- 
mar,  go  and  rest  awhile,  hoping  for  the  best,  for  you  will 
hear  him  if  he  wakes  up,  but  he  will  not  wake,  since  the 
sleep-draught  that  I  gave  him  holds  him  fast." 

Then  she  saw  us  both  go — the  doctor  back  to  his  bed 
and  me  to  a  settle  with  a  mattress  on  it,  which  was  placed 
just  outside  his  door. 

Here  I  'would  stop  my  tale  to  say  that  this  thing  hap- 
pened, and  that  those  words  which  Suzanne  heard  while  her 
body  lay  in  Sigwe's  guest-hut,  passed  between  the  doctor, 
who  was  sleeping  at  the  stead,  and  myself  at  one  o'clock 
of  the  morning  on  the  third  night  after  the  night  of  the 
taking  of  Suzanne,  and  moreover,  that  I  never  spoke  of 
them  to  any  living  creature  until  Suzanne  repeated  them  to 
me  in  later  years.  Nor  could  the  doctor  have  told  them 
to  her,  for  he  went  away  to  the  province  of  Graff  Eeinet, 


THE   VISION  OF  RALPH  AND  SUZANNE         201 

where  shortly  afterwards  he  was  killed  by  a  fall  from  his 
horse. 

Then  it  seemed  to  Suzanne  that  she  moved  to  the  bed- 
side of  her  husband,  and  bending  down,,  kissed  him  upon 
the  forehead,  which  was  hot  to  her  lips,  saying,  "  Awake, 
dear  love."  Instantly,  in  her  vision,  he  awoke  with  a 
cry  of  joy,  and  said,  "  Suzanne,  how  came  you  here?  "  to 
which  she  answered,  "  I  am  not  here.  I  have  escaped  un- 
harmed from  Swart  Piet,  but  I  am  a  prisoner  in  the  hands 
of  red  Kaffirs,  and  to-morrow  I  lead  their  army  to  the 
north.  Yet  it  has  been  permitted  me  to  visit  you,  husband, 
and  to  tell  you  to  be  of  good  comfort  and  to  fear  no  evil 
tidings,  for  you  will  recover  and  we  shall  meet  again,  un- 
harmed in  any  way,  though  not  till  many  days  are  passed." 

"  Where  shall  we  meet?  "  he  asked.  "  I  do  not  know," 
she  answered.  "  Yes,  I  see  now.  Look  before  you." 

Then  they  looked,  both  of  them,  and  there  painted  in  the 
air  they  saw  the  picture  of  a  great  mountain,  standing  by 
itself  upon  a  plain,  but  with  other  mountains  visible  to  the 
north  and  south  of  it.  This  mountain  was  flat-topped, 
with  precipices  of  red  rock,  and  down  its  eastern  slope  ran 
five  ridges  shaped  like  the  thumb  and  fingers  of  a  mighty 
hand,  while  between  the  thumb  and  the  first  finger,  as  it 
were,  a  stream  gushed  out,  upon  the  banks  of  which  grew 
flat-topped  trees  with  thick  green  leaves  and  white  bloom. 

"  You  have  seen  and  you  will  remember,  fearing  noth- 
ing," she  said  in  her  vision. 

"  I  have  seen  and  I  shall  remember,  fearing  nothing," 
"Ralph  answered,  and  with  the  sound  of  his  voice  still  echo- 
ing in  her  ears,  Suzanne  awoke  in  the  guest-hut  of  Sigwe, 
and  once  more  heard  Sihamba  breathing  at  her  side,  and 
felt  the  hand  which  she  had  outstretched  to  find  her, 
pressed  against  her  cheek.  But  now  there  was  a  new  sense 


202  SWALLOW 

of  comfort  in  her  heart,  for  she  believed  that  without  any 
doubt  she  had  seen  her  husband,  and  that  although  they 
were  separated,  still  the  day  would  come  when  they  should 
meet  again,  not  in  the  spirit  but  in  the  flesh. 

Now  I,  Suzanne  Botmar,  who  tell  this  tale,  had  scarcely 
left  Ealph's  room  upon  that  very  night  and  laid  myself 
down  upon  the  settle  when  he  called  to  me.  I  ran  back  to 
the  bed  to  find  him  sitting  up  in  it  wide  awake  and  calm- 
eyed. 

"  Mother,"  he  said,  for  so  he  still  named  me,  "  did  you 
see  Suzanne  ?  " 

11  Hush,  Kalph,"  I  answered,  "  you  are  talking  foolishly; 
wherever  Suzanne  may  be,  alas!  she  is  not  here." 

"  She  was  here  just  now,"  he  said,  smiling,  "  for  we  have 
been  talking  together.  She  has  escaped  from  Swart  Piet 
and  is  unharmed,  but  a  prisoner  among  the  Kaffirs.  And, 
mother,  she  and  I  will  meet  again  upon  a  great  mountain 
like  a  fortress,  which  has  ridges  on  its  eastern  side  re- 
sembling the  thumb  and  fingers  of  a  man,  and  a  stream  of 
water  gushing  out  between  the  thumb  and  first  finger." 

"  Doubtless,  doubtless,"  I  said,  for  I  saw  that  he  was 
wandering  in  his  mind. 

"Ah!"  Ealph  answered,  "you  do  not  believe  me,  but 
it  is  true.  I  tell  you  that  I  saw  Suzanne  just  now  wearing 
a  fine  kaross  of  tiger  skins  upon  her  shoulders,  and  that 
she  kissed  me  on  the  forehead,"  and  even  as  he  spoke  he 
sank  into  a  deep  and  quiet  sleep,  and  when  he  awoke  in 
the  morning  we  found  that  the  fever  had  left  him  and  that 
he  was  out  of  danger  of  his  life. 


CHAPTER    XXII 

THE    WAN    OF    THE    CLEAN    SPEAK 

WHEN  Sihamba  arose  next  day,  Suzanne  asked  her  if  the 
home  of  her  people,  the  Uinpondwana,  was  a  great  moun- 
tain faced  round  with  slab-sided  precipices  and  having 
ridges  on  its  eastern  face  like  to  the  thumb  and  fingers  of 
a  hand,  with  a  stream  of  water  gushing  from  between  the 
thumb  and  first  finger,  upon  the  banks  of  which  grew 
flat-topped  trees  with  thick  green  leaves  and  white  flowers. 

Sihamba  stared  at  her,  saying: 

"  Such  is  the  place  indeed,  and  there  are  no  trees  like 
to  those  you  speak  of  to  be  found  anywhere  else.  The 
maidens  use  the  flowers  of  them  to  adorn  their  hair,  and 
from  the  leaves  is  made  a  salve  that  is  very  good  for 
wounds.  But,  say,  Swallow,  who  told  you  about  the  moun- 
tain Umpondwana  that  is  so  far  away,  since  I  never 
described  it  to  you?" 

"  Xobody  told  me,"  she  answered,  and  she  repeated  the 
vision  to  her,  or  as  much  of  it  as  she  wished. 

Sihamba  listened,  and  when  the  tale  was  done  she 
nodded  her  little  head,  saying: 

"  So  even  you  white  people  have  something  of  the  power 
which  has  been  given  to  us  Kaffir  witch-doctors  from  the 
beginning.  Without  a  doubt  your  spirit  spoke  to  the 
spirit  of  your  husband  last  night  and  I  am  glad  of  it,  for 


204  SWALLOW 

now,  although  you  are  apart  from  each  other,  the  hearts  of 
both  of  you  will  be  rested.  Now  also  I  am  sure  that  we 
must  go  to  my  people  and  live  among  them  for  so  long  as 
may  be  appointed,  seeing  that  there  and  nowhere  else  you 
and  the  Baas  Kenzie  will  come  together  again." 

"  I  had  sooner  go  back  to  the  stead/'  sighed  Suzanne. 

"  That  cannot  be,  Swallow,  for  it  is  not  fated,  and  for 
the  rest,  if  you  meet,  what  does  it  matter  where  you 
meet?" 

That  morning  Suzanne,  mounted  upon  the  great  scliim- 
mel,  which  by  now  had  almost  recovered  from  his  weari- 
ness, although  he  was  still  somewhat  stiff,  and  followed  by 
Sihamba  and  Zinti  riding  the  horse  and  the  mule,  passed 
up  and  down  before  Sigwe's  regiments  that  saluted  her  as 
chieftainess.  Then  amongst  much  wailing  of  women  and 
children,  the  impi  started  northward,  Suzanne,  preceded 
only  by  scouts  and  a  guard  to  feel  the  wa}r,  riding  in  front 
of  it  that  she  might  escape  the  dust  raised  by  so  many 
feet  and  the  hoofs  of  the  great  herd  of  oxen  that  were 
driven  along  to  serve  as  food  for  the  soldiers. 

For  fourteen  days'  journey  they  travelled  thus,  and  dur- 
ing that  time  nothing  of  note  happened  to  them,  except 
that  twelve  men  and  Sihamba's  brown  mule  were  lost  in 
crossing  a  flooded  river,  whereof  there  were  many  in  their 
path.  The  country  through  which  they  passed  was  popu- 
lated by  Kaffirs,  but  these  tribes  were  too  small  and  scat- 
tered to  attempt  to  oppose  so  large  an  army,  nor  did  the 
men  of  Sigwe  do  them  any  mischief  beyond  taking  such 
grain  and  meal  as  they  required  for  food. 

On  the  fourteenth  day,  however,  they  reached  the 
boundary  of  the  territories  of  a  very  powerful  tribe  of 
Pondo  blood,  and  here  they  halted  while  messengers  were 


THE   WAR   OF  THE  CLEAN  SPEAR  205 

sent  forward  to  the  Pondo  chief,  saying  that  with  him 
Sigwe  had  no  quarrel,  and  asking  for  a  safe-conduct  for  the 
army  while  passing  through  his  lands.  On  the  third  day 
these  messengers  returned,  accompanied  by  an  embassy 
from  the  Pondo  chief,  that  after  much  talk,  though  to  all 
appearance  unwillingly,  gave  Sigwe  the  promise  of  safe- 
conduct  upon  condition  that  he  made  a  present  of  cere- 
mony of  one  ox  to  their  ruler.  Now  Sihamba  noticed  that 
while  the  envoys  were  talking,  their  eyes  wandered  all 
about,  taking  note  of  every  thing,  and  especially  of  the 
number  of  the  soldiers  and  of  Suzanne,  who  sat  beside 
Sigwe  during  the  indaba,  or  council. 

"  These  are  no  true  men,"  she  thought  to  herself,  and 
made  a  plan.  In  the  evening  she  visited  the  camp  of  the 
envoys  who  had  heard  already  that  she  was  a  famous  doc- 
toress,  and  offered  her  services  to  them  for  payment  should 
any  of  them  chance  to  need  the  boon  of  her  magic  arts. 
They  laughed,  answering  that  they  wanted  neither  charms 
nor  divinations,  but  that  she  should  see  a  certain  young 
man,  a  servant  in  their  train,  who  was  very  sick  with  love 
and  had  bought  philtres  from  every  doctor  in  their  coun- 
try without  avail,  wherewith  to  soften  the  heart  of  a  girl 
who  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  him.  When  Sihamba, 
without  seeming  to  speak  much  of  it,  had  drawn  from 
them  all  that  she  wished  to  know  of  the  story  of  this  man 
and  girl,  and  with  it  other  information,  though  they  won 
little  enough  from  her,  she  took  her  leave,  and  so  set  her 
trap  that  at  night  when  all  were  asleep  the  young  man 
came  to  consult  her  in  a  place  apart. 

Now  she  looked  at  him,  and  said  at  once,  without  suf- 
fering him  to  speak: 

"  Let  me  see.  Your  name  is  so-and-so,  and  you  are  in 
love  with  such  a  girl,  who  turns  away  from  you; "  and  she 


206  SWALLOW 

went  on  to  tell  him  things  which  he  thought  were  known 
only  to  himself. 

"Wonderful!"  he  said,  "wonderful!  But  say,  lady 
doctoress,  can  you  help  me,  for  my  heart  is  water  because 
of  this  girl?" 

"  It  is  difficult,"  she  answered.  "  Do  you  know  that 
when  you  come  to  consult  a  wise  woman  you  should  keep 
your  mind  fixed  upon  the  matter  about  which  you  would 
take  counsel  with  her  from  the  first  moment  that  you  set 
out  to  visit  her  until  you  stand  in  her  presence  ?  Now  this 
you  have  not  done,  for  as  you  came  you  were  thinking  of 
other  things;  yes,  you  were  thinking  about  the  ambush 
which  is  to  be  set  for  these  people  in  the  pass  yonder,  and 
therefore  I  cannot  see  the  girl's  heart  clear,  and  do  not  quite 
know  what  medicine  I  should  give  you  to  soften  it." 

"  It  is  true,  lady,"  answered  the  stupid  fellow,  "  that  I 
was  thinking  about  the  ambush  of  which  I  have  heard  some 
talk,  though  I  do  not  know  who  told  you  of  it." 

"  AVho  told  me  ?  Why  to  my  sight  your  thoughts  are 
written  on  your  face,  yes,  they  ran  before  you  and  reached 
me  as  I  heard  your  footsteps.  But  now,  think  no  more  of 
that  matter,  which  has  nothing  to  do  with  you  or  me,  think 
only  of  the  girl,  and  go  on  thinking  of  her,  and  of  her 
only,  until  you  get  back  home,  and  give  her  the  medicine — 
that  is  if  you  wish  it  to  work." 

"  I  am  thinking,  lady,"  he  muttered,  turning  his  stupid 
face  up  to  the  skies. 

"  Fool,  be  quiet.  Do  I  not  know  that?  Ah!  now  I  see 
her  heart,  and  I  tell  you  that  you  are  lucky,  for  when  you 
have  done  as  I  bid  you,  she  will  love  you  more  than  if  you 
were  the  greatest  chief  in  all  the  land."  Then  Sihamba 
gave  him  a  certain  harmless  powder  to  sprinkle  in  the 
hut  where  the  girl  slept,  and  bade  him  wait  for  her  on 


THE   WAR   OF  THE  CLEAN  SPEAR  207 

six  different  days  when  she  came  up  from  bathing,  giving 
her  on  each  day  a  garland  of  fresh  flowers,  a  new  flower 
for  every  day. 

The  man  thanked  her  and  asked  what  he  must  pay  her 
for  a  fee,  to  which  she  replied  that  she  took  no  fee  in 
matters  of  love,  since  her  reward  was  to  know  that  she  had 
made  two  people  happy;  but  she  added: 

"  Eemember  what  I  tell  you,  or  instead  of  earning  love 
you  will  earn  hate.  Say  nothing  of  your  visit  to  me,  and  if 
you  can  avoid  it,  do  not  speak  at  all  until  you  have 
sprinkled  the  powder  in  the  hut;  especially  put  all  things 
which  do  not  concern  you  and  her  out  of  your  mind  and 
tli ink  only  of  her  face  and  how  happy  you  will  be  when 
you  have  married  her,  which,  if  you  follow  my  instructions, 
you  will  shortly  do." 

Now  the  young  man  went  away  as  though  he  were  walk- 
ing upon  air,  and  indeed  so  closely  did  he  obey  her  that  he 
was  dismissed  by  his  masters  as  a  dumb  fool  before  he 
reached  home  again.  But  whether  or  no  Sihamba's 
medicine  softened  the  heart  of  the  maid  I  have  not 
heard. 

So  soon  as  he  was  gone  Sihamba  sent  Zinti  to  bring 
Sigwe  and  two  of  his  generals  to  the  place  where  she  and 
Suzanne  were  encamped  in  a  booth  made  of  branches  and 
long  grass.  When  they  were  come,  she  told  them  what  she 
had  learned  from  the  love-stricken  lad,  adding  that  this 
plan  of  making  sure  of  what  already  she  suspected,  had 
been  born  in  the  brain  of  tlie  Swallow,  although  she  had 
carried  it  out.  For  when  she  deemed  that  she  could  serve 
her  mistress  or  win  her  honour,  Sihamba  thought  less  of 
the  truth  than  she  should  have  done. 

On  learning  this  tidings  Sigwe  and  his  captains  were 


208  SWALLOW 

full  of  wrath,  and  spoke  of  making  war  upon  the  Pondo 
chief  at  once,  but  Sihamba  said: 

"  Listen;  the  Swallow  has  whispered  a  better  way  into 
my  ear.  It  is  this:  the  embassy  of  the  Pondos  leaves  at 
dawn,  and  you  must  bid  them  farewell,  telling  them  that 
you  will  follow  and  camp  to-morrow  night  at  the  mouth 
of  the  pass,  which  you  will  enter  at  the  next  daybreak. 
Meanwhile  now  at  once  we  will  send  out  my  servant,  Zinti, 
dressed  like  a  Pondo  lad,  to  search  the  country,  and  find 
if  there  is  not  another  path  by  which  the  pass  can  be 
turned,  for  if  such  a  way  exists  he  will  discover  it  and 
report  to  us  to-morrow  at  nightfall,  since  he,  who  is  stupid 
in  many  things,  was  born  with  the  gift  of  seeking  out 
roads  and  remembering  them;  also  he  knows  how  to  be 
silent  if  questioned." 

The  chief  and  his  captains  thought  this  plan  good,  and 
thanked  the  Swallow  for  it,  praising  her  wisdom,  and 
within  an  hour,  having  been  instructed  what  he  must  do 
and  where  he  should  meet  them,  Zinti  was  despatched  upon 
his  errand. 

Next  morning  the  envoys  departed  suspecting  nothing, 
and  taking  with  them  gifts  and  the  ox  of  ceremony;  and 
that  night  the  army  of  Sigwe  encamped  within  a  mile  of 
the  pass,  to  the  right  and  left  of  which  stretched  tall  and 
difficult  cliffs. 

About  an  hour  after  sunset  Zinti  crept  into  the  camp 
and  asked  for  food  to  eat,  for  he  had  travelled  far  and 
was  hungry;  moreover,  he  had  been  chased  by  some  Pondo 
soldiers  to  whom,  feigning  the  fool  he  was  commonly  sup- 
posed to  be,  he  would  make  no  answer  when  they  ques- 
tioned him.  When  he  had  eaten  he  made  his  report  to 
Sigwe,  Suzanne,  and  Sihamba,  and  the  gist  of  it  was  that 
he  had  found  a  good  road  by  Fhich  rneji  might  safely 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  CLEAN  SPEAR      209 

ascend  the  cliffs,  though  not  so  easily  as  they  could  travel 
through  the  gorge.  Following  this  road,  he  added,  they 
could  pass  round  the  Pondo  town,  avoiding  its  fortifica- 
tions, and  coming  out  at  the  cattle  kraals  at  the  back  of  the 
town,  for  he  had  climbed  a  high  tree  and  mapped  out  the 
route  with  his  eye.  Then  followed  a  council  of  war,  and 
the  upshot  of  it  was  that,  under  the  leadership  of  Zinti, 
the  army  marched  off  in  silence  an  hour  before  midnight, 
leaving  its  cooking  fires  burning  to  deceive  the  Pondos. 

They  climbed  the  cliffs  by  the  path  he  showed  them, 
and,  travelling  all  night,  at  dawn  found  themselves  before 
the  cattle  kraals,  which,  as  no  enemy  was  expected,  were 
unguarded  except  by  the  herds.  These  they  cleared  of  the 
cattle,  some  thousands  of  them,  and  marched  on  at  speed, 
sending  a  message  back  to  the  town  by  the  herds  that  this 
was  the  luck  which  those  must  expect  who  attempted  to 
trap  the  Swallow  in  a  snare  set  for  a  rock-rabbit. 

The  Pondos  were  very  angry  at  their  loss,  and,  gather- 
ing their  strength,  followed  them  for  some  days,  but  before 
they  could  come  up  with  them  Sigwe  and  his  army  had 
reached  country  so  difficult  and  so  far  away  that  the  Pondo 
chief  thought  it  wisest  to  leave  them  alone.  So  they 
marched  on,  taking  the  captured  cattle  with  them,  and 
after  this  bloodless  victory  Suzanne  and  Sihamba  were 
greatly  honoured  by  the  soldiers,  and  even  the  lad  Zinti 
was  treated  like  a  chief. 

Xow  once  more  they  reached  wild  lands,  inhabited  only 
by  scattered  tribes,  and  passed  through  them  at  their 
leisure,  for  they  had  plenty  of  food  to  eat,  although  from 
time  to  time  they  were  obliged  to  encamp  upon  the  banks 
of  flooded  rivers,  or  to  hunt  for  a  road  over  a  mountain. 
Tt  was  on  the  thirty-first  day  of  their  journey  that  at  length 

they  entered  the  territories  of  the  Endwandwe,  against 
u 


210  SWALLOW 

whom  they  had  come  to  make  war,  where  at  once  they  were 
met  by  messengers  sent  by  Sikonyana,  the  chief  of  the 
Endwandwe,  desiring  to  know  why  they  came  upon  him 
with  so  great  a  force.  To  these  men  the  ease  was  set  out 
by  Sigwe,  speaking  in  his  own  name  and  in  that  of  the 
Swallow.  As  he  had  promised  Suzanne,  for  this  was  a 
savage  who  kept  his  word,  he  offered  to  refrain  from  at- 
tack if  the  young  Batwa  was  exchanged  for  her  one-eyed 
sister  and  sent  to  him,  together  with  the  thousand  head  of 
cattle  which  he  had  paid,  and  two  thousand  more  by  way 
of  fine.  At  first  these  terms  were  refused,  but  afterwards 
an  embassy  came  of  whom  the  captain  was  the  brother  of 
the  king,  who  said  that  he  was  charged  to  discuss  this 
matter  with  the  white  chieftainess  named  Swallow,  herself, 
and  with  none  other. 

So  Suzanne,  accompanied  only  by  Sihamba,  and  mounted 
upon  the  great  schimmel  that  had  come  safe  and  well 
through  all  the  journey,  though  the  black  horse  had  died 
of  sickness,  rode  out  a  hundred  paces  in  front  of  the  army 
and  met  the  man.  There  she  spoke  to  him  well  and  wisely, 
pointing  out  to  him  that  without  doubt  a  trick  had  been 
played  upon  Sigwe  which  he  was  mad  to  avenge.  The 
captain  answered  that  they  were  well  able  to  fight.  She 
replied  that  this  might  be  so,  that  they  might  even  con- 
quer Sigwe  and  drive  him  back,  but  it  could  not  be  done 
without  great  loss  to  themselves,  and  that  if  his  tribe  were 
at  all  weakened  the  Zulus,  who  hated  them,  would  hear  of 
it,  and  take  the  opportunity  to  stamp  them  out. 

Well,  the  end  of  it  was  that  the  Endwandwe  yielded,  and 
upon  the  promise  of  Suzanne — for  they  would  take  no 
other — that  no  spear  should  be  lifted  against  them,  they 
sent  the  true  Batwa,  a  beautiful  but  sullen  girl,  to  Sigwe, 
taking  back  the  old  Batwa,  who  departed  cursing  him  and 


THE    WAR   OF   THE   CLEAN  SPEAR  211 

all  his  race.  With  her  they  returned  also  the  thousand 
head  of  cattle  which  he  had  paid  and  twelve  hundred  more 
by  way  of  fine,  for  the  balance  was  remitted  by  agreement. 

And  so  came  to  an  end  the  war  of  Sigwe  with  the  End- 
wandwe,  which  among  the  Kaffirs  is  still  spoken  of  as  the 
"  War  of  the  White  Swallow/'  or  sometimes  as  "  The  War 
of  the  Clean  Spear/'  because  no  blood  at  all  was  shed  in 
it,  and  not  a  man  was  killed  by  violence,  although  when 
Sigwe  passed  through  that  country  on  his  journey  home, 
by  means  of  a  clever  trick  the  Pondo  chief  re-captured 
most  of  the  cattle  that  had  been  taken  from  him. 


CHAPTER    XXIII 

HOW  SUZANNE  BECAME   A   CHIEFTAINESS 

So  the  cattle  were  handed  over,  and  the  girl  Batwa  was 
given  to  Sigwe,  whom  by  the  way  she  made  unhappy  for 
the  rest  of  his  days.  Indeed,  she  brought  about  his  ruin, 
for  being  ambitious  she  persuaded  him  to  make  war  upon 
the  white  people  in  the  Transkei,  of  which  the  end  was  that 
from  a  great  chief  he  became  a  very  small  one.  When  all 
was  accomplished  Sigwe  waited  upon  Suzanne. 

"  Lady  Swallow,"  he  said,  "  in  three  days  I  begin  my 
homeward  march,  and  now  I  have  come  to  ask  whither  you 
wish  to  go,  since  you  cannot  stop  here  in  the  veldt  alone." 

"  I  would  return  with  you  to  the  Transkei,"  she  an- 
swered, "  and  seek  out  my  own  home." 

"Lady,"  he  said  shamefacedly,  "alas!  that  may  not  be. 
You  remember  the  dream  of  the  diviner,  and  you  know 
how  that  all  which  she  foretold,  and  more,  has  come  to 
pass,  for  you,  the  White  Swallow,  appeared  and  flew  in 
front  of  my  impi,  and  from  that  hour  we  have  had  the  best 
of  luck.  By  your  wisdom  we  outwitted  the  Pondos  and 
seized  their  cattle;  by  your  wisdom  we  have  conquered  the 
Endwandwe  without  lifting  a  single  spear,  and  that  Batwa, 
whom  I  desired,  is  mine;  while  of  the  great  force  which 
came  out  with  me  to  war  but  twenty-and-one  are  dead, 
twelve  by  drowning,  eight  by  sickness,  and  one  by  snake- 


JIO  W  SUZANNE  BECAME  A   CHIEFTAINESS     213 

bite.  All  things  have  gone  well,  and  she  who  dreamed  the 
dream  of  the  White  Swallow  is  the  greatest  of  diviners. 

"  But,  lady,  this  was  not  all  the  dream,  for  it  said  that 
if  you,  the  Swallow,  should  set  your  face  southward  with 
us  then  the  best  of  luck  would  turn  to  the  worst,  for  then 
utter  misfortune  should  overwhelm  me  and  my  regiments. 
Now,  lady,  I  cannot  doubt  that  as  the  first  part  of  the 
prophecy  has  come  true,  so  the  last  part  would  come  true 
also  did  I  tempt  the  spirits  of  my  ancestors  by  disregard- 
ing it,  and,  therefore,  White  Swallow,  though  all  I  have 
,is  yours,  yet  you  cannot  fly  home  with  us.'* 

Now  Suzanne  pleaded  with  him  long  and  earnestly,  as 
did  Sihamba,  but  without  avail,  for  he  could  not  be  moved. 
Indeed,  had  he  consented  the  captains  and  the  army  would 
have  disobeyed  his  order  in  this  matter,  for  they  believed, 
every  man  of  them,  that  to  take  the  Swallow  with  them 
homewards  would  be  to  run  to  their  own  deaths.  Nor  was 
it  safe  that  she  should  attempt  to  follow  in  the  path  of  the 
impi,  since  then  in  their  superstitious  fear  they  might  send 
back  and  kill  her  to  avert  the  evil  fate. 

"  Now,  Swallow,"  said  Sihamba,  "  there  is  but  one  thing 
for  us  to  do,  and  it  is  to  seek  refuge  among  my  people, 
the  Umpondwana,  whose  mountain  stronghold  lies  at  a 
distance  of  four  days'  journey  from  this  place.  But  to 
speak  truth,  I  am  not  sure  how  they  will  receive  me,  seeing 
that  I  parted  from  them  in  anger  twelve  years  ago,  having 
quarrelled  with  them,  first  about  a  matter  of  policy,  and 
secondly  aboiit  a  matter  of  marriage,  and  that  my  half- 
brother,  the  son  of  my  father  by  a  slave,  was  promoted  to 
rule  in  my  place.  Still  to  them  we  must  go,  and  with  them 
we  must  stay,  if  they  will  suffer  it,  until  we  find  an  oppor- 
tunity of  travelling  south  in  safety." 

"  If  it  must  be  so,"  answered  Suzanne,  sighing,  "  per- 


214  SWALLOW 

haps  Sigwe  will  escort  us  to  the  house  of  the  Umpondwana 
before  he  turns  homewards,  for  they  will  think  the  more 
of  us  if  they  see  us  at  the  head  of  a  great  army." 

To  this  plan  Sigwe  and  his  captains  assented  with  glad- 
ness, for  they  loved  and  honoured  the  Swallow,  and  were 
sore  at  heart  because  their  fears  forced  them  to  leave  her 
alone  in  the  wilderness.  But  first  they  made  sure  that  the 
mountain  Umpondwana  lay  to  the  west,  and  not  to  the 
south,  for  not  one  step  to  the  southward  would  they  allow 
Suzanne  to  travel  with  them. 

On  the  morrow,  then,  they  marched,  and  the  evening  of 
the  third  day  they  set  their  camp  in  a  mountain  pass  which 
led  to  a  wide  plain.  Before  sunrise  next  morning  Sihamba 
woke  Suzanne. 

"  Dress  yourself,  Swallow/'  she  said,  "  and  come  to  see 
the  light  break  on  the  house  of  my  people." 

So  they  went  out  in  the  grey  dawn,  and  climbing  a 
koppie  in  the  mouth  of  the  pass,  looked  before  them.  At 
first  they  could  distinguish  nothing,  for  all  the  plain  be- 
neath was  a  sea  of  mist  through  Avhich  in  the  distance 
loomed  something  like  a  mountain,  till  presently  the  rays 
of  the  rising  sun  struck  upon  it  and  the  veils  of  vapour 
parted  like  curtains  that  are  drawn  back,  and  there  before 
them  was  the  mountain-fortress  of  Umpondwana  separated 
from  the  pass  by  a  great  space  of  mist-clad  plain.  Suzanne 
looked  and  knew  it. 

"  Sihamba,"  she  said,  "  it  is  the  place  of  my  vision  and 

none  other.     See,  the  straight  sides  of  red  rock,  the  five 

'ridges  upon  the  eastern  slope  fashioned  like  the  thumb  and 

fingers  of  the  hand  of  a  man.     Yes,  and  there  between  the 

thumb  and  first  finger  a  river  runs." 

"  I  told  you  that  it  was  so  from  the  beginning,  Swallow, 
for  in  all  the  country  there  is  no  other  such  hill  as  this, 


HOW  SUZANNE  BECAME  A    CHIEFTAINESS      215 

and  because  of  the  aspect  of  those  ridges  when  seen 
from  a  distance  it  is  named  the  Mountain  of  the  Great 
Hand." 

Before  the  words  had  left  her  lips  another  voice  spoke, 
at  the  sound  of  which  Suzanne  nearly  fell  to  the  earth. 

"  Good  day  to  you,  Suzanne,"  it  said  in  Dutch  and  was 
silent. 

"  Sihamha,  did  you  hear,  Sihamba?  "  she  gasped.  "  Do 
I  dream,  or  did  Piet  Van  Vooren  speak  to  me?" 

"You  did  not  dream,"  answered  Sihamba, "for  that  voice 
was  the  voice  of  Swart  Piet  and  no  other,  and  he  is  hidden 
somewhere  among  the  rocks  of  yonder  cliff  wall.  Quick, 
Swallow,  kneel  behind  this  stone  lest  he  should  shoot." 

She  obeyed,  and  at  that  moment  the  voice  spoke  again 
out  of  the  shadows  of  the  cliff  that  bordered  the  pass 
twenty  or  thirty  paces  from  them. 

"  What,  Suzanne,"  it  said,  "  is  that  little  witch-doctor- 
ess  telling  you  that  I  shall  fire  on  you?  Had  I  wished  I 
could  have  shot  you  three  times  over  while  you  were  stand- 
ing upon  that  rock.  But  why  should  I  desire  to  kill  one 
who  will  be  my  lover?  Sihamba  I  wished  to  shoot  indeed, 
but  her  familiar  set  her  so  that  the  bullet  must  pass 
through  you  to  reach  her  heart.  Suzanne,  you  are  going  to 
hide  yourself  among  the  people  of  the  Umpondwana.  Oh! 
yes,  I  know  your  plan.  Well,  when  once  you  are  behind  the 
walls  of  that  mountain  it  may  be  difficult  to  speak  to  you 
for  a  while,  so  listen  to  me.  You  thought  that  you  had 
left  me  far  away,  did  you  not?  but  I  have  followed  you  stej^ 
by  step  and  twice  I  have  been  very  near  to  you,  although 
T  could  never  find  a  chance  to  carry  you  off  safely.  Well, 
T  wish  to  tell  you  that  sooner  or  later  T  shall  find  that 
chance;  sooner  or  later  yoii  will  come  out  of  the  mountain 
or  I  shall  get  into  it,  and  then  it  will  be  my  turn;  so,  love, 


216  SWALLOW 

till  that  hour  fare  you  well.  Stay,  I  forgot,  I  have  news 
for  you;  your  husband,  the  English  castaway,  is  dead." 

At  this  tidings  a  low  moan  of  pain  broke  from  Suzanne's 
lips. 

"  Be  silent  and  take  no  heed,"  whispered  Sihamba,  who 
was  kneeling  at  her  side  behind  the  shelter  of  the  stone, 
"he  does  but  lie  to  torment  you." 

"  The  bullet  and  the  water  together  were  too  much  for 
him,"  went  on  Swart  Piet,  "  and  he  died  on  the  second 
night  after  he  reached  the  stead.  Your  father  came  to 
seek  me  in  the  place  you  know,  and  was  carried  home  badly 
wounded  for  his  pains,  but  whether  he  lived  or  died  I 
cannot  tell  you,  but  I  heard  that  your  mother,  the  good 
Vrouw  Botmar,  is  very  .sick,  for  things  have  so  fallen  out 
lately  that  her  mind  is  troubled,  and  she  flies  to  drink  to 
comfort  it." 

Now  when  she  heard  this,  Sihamba  could  keep  silence 
no  longer,  but  cried  in  a  mocking  voice: 

"  Get  you  gone,  Bull-Head,  and  take  lessons  in  lying 
from  your  friends  of  my  trade,  the  Kaffir  witch-doctors, 
for  never  before  did  I  hear  a  man  bear  false  witness  so 
clumsily.  On  the  third  night  of  his  illness  the  husband  of 
Swallow  was  alive  and  doing  well;  the  Heer  Jan  Botmar 
was  not  wounded  at  all,  and  as  for  the  Vrouw  Botmar, 
never  in  her  life  did  she  drink  anything  stronger  than 
coffee,  for  the  white  man's  firewater  is  poison  to  her.  Get 
you  gone,  you  silly  half-breed,  who  seek  to  deceive  the 
ears  of  Sihamba,  and  I  counsel  you,  hold  fast  to  your 
business  of  theft  and  murder  and  give  up  that  of  lying, 
in  which  you  will  never  succeed.  Now  be  off,  you  stink- 
cat  of  the  rocks,  lest  I  send  some  to  hunt  you  from  your 
hole  who  this  time  will  use  the  points  and  not  the  shafts 
of  their  assegais.  Come,  Swallow,  let  us  be  going." 


110  W  SUZANNE  BECAME  A   CHIEFTAINESS     217 

So  they  went,  keeping  under  cover  all  the  way  to  the 
camp,  which,  indeed,  was  quite  close  to  them,  and  if  Swart 
Piet  made  any  answer  they  did  not  hear  it.  So  soon  as 
they  reached  it  Sihamba  told  Sigwe  what  had  passed  and 
he  sent  men  to  scour  the  cliff  and  the  bush  behind  it,  but 
of  Van  Vooren  they  could  find  no  trace,  no,  not  even  the 
spot  where  he  had  been  hidden,  so  that  Sigwe  came  to 
believe  that  they  had  been  fooled  by  echoes  and  had  never 
heard  him  at  all. 

But  both  Suzanne  and  Sihamba  knew  that  this  was  not 
so;  indeed,  this  hearing  of  the  voice  of  Swart  Piet  filled 
Suzanne  with  fear,  since  where  the  voice  was,  there  was 
the  man,  her  hateful  enemy,  who  had  given  his  life  to  her 
ruin  and  to  that  of  those  she  loved.  Whatever  lies  he 
might  have  spoken — and  her  heart  told  her  that  all  his 
ill  tidings  were  but  a  cruel  falsehood — this  at  least  was 
true,  that  he  had  dogged  her  step  by  step  through  the  vast 
wilderness,  and  so  craftily  that  none  guessed  his  presence. 
What  might  not  be  feared  from  such  a  foe  as  this,  half 
mad  and  all  wicked,  armed  with  terrible  cunning  and  un- 
tiring patience?  If  the  Fmpondwana  would  not  receive 
her  she  must  fall  into  his  hands  at  once,  and  if  they  did 
receive  her  she  would  never  dare  to  leave  their  kraal,  for 
always,  always  he  would  be  watching  and  waiting  for  her. 
Little  wonder  then  that  she  felt  afraid,  though,  just  as  the 
sun  shines  ever  behind  the  blackest  cloud,  still  in  her  heart 
shone  the  sure  comfort  of  her  hope,  and  more  than  hope 
that  in  the  end  God  would  give  her  back  her  husband  and 
her  to  him  unharmed.  Yet,  which  ever  way  she  looked  the 
cloud  was  very  black,  and  through  it  she  could  see  no  ray 
of  light. 

When  the  mists  had  vanished  and  the  air  was  warm  with 


218  SWALLOW 

the  sun,  the  army  of  Sigwe  marched  from  the  pass  heading 
for  the  great  mountain.  As  they  drew  near  they  saw  that 
the  Umpondwana  were  much  terrified  at  the  sight  of  them, 
for  from  all  the  kraals,  of  which  there  were  many  on  the 
slopes  of  the  mountain,  they  ran  hither  and  thither  like 
ants  about  a  broken  nest,  carrying  their  goods  and  children 
upon  their  shoulders,  and  driving  herds  of  cattle  in  towards 
the  central  stronghold.  Noting  this,  Sigwe  halted  and  sent 
heralds  forward  to  say  that  he  came  in  peace  and  not  in 
war,  and  he  desired  to  speak  with  their  chief.  In  less  than 
two  hours  the  heralds  returned,  bringing  with  them  some 
of  the  headmen  of  the  Umpondwana,  who  stared  round 
with  frightened  eyes,  for  they  did  not  believe  that  any 
general  would  come  upon  a  message  of  peace  with  so  many 
regiments.  When  the  indaba  was  set  Sigwe  told  them  his 
name  and  tribe,  of  both  of  which  they  had  heard,  and 
then,  before  speaking  of  his  business,  asked  which  of  them 
was  the  chief  of  the  Umpondwana. 

"  Alas!  "  answered  an  old  man,  "  we  are  in  sore  trouble 
here,  and  wander  in  the  darkness,  for  our  chief,  who  was 
named  Koraanu,  died  two  days  ago  of  the  small-pox  which 
has  raged  among  us  for  many  months,  leaving  no  children 
behind  him,  for  the  sickness  killed  them  also.  Moreover, 
we  are  suffering  from  a  great  drought,  for  as  you  may  see, 
the  veldt  is  still  brown,  and  there  is  no  green  upon  the 
cornfields,  and  if  rain  does  not  fall  soon  famine  will  follow 
the  sickness,  and  then  it  will  only  need  that  the  Zulus 
should  follow  the  famine  to  make  an  end  of  us  once  and 
for  all." 

"  It  seems  that  your  tribe  must  have  sinned  deeply  and 
brought  down  upon  itself  the  curse  of  the  spirits  of  its 
ancestors,"  said  Sigwe,  when  they  had  done  their  melan- 
choly tale,  "  that  so  many  misfortunes  should  overtake 


HOW  SUZANNE  BECAME  A   CHIEFTAINESS     219 

you.  Tell  me  now,  who  by  right  is  ruler  of  the  Umpond- 
wana  ? " 

"  AVe  do  not  know,  chief/'  they  answered,  "  or  rather, 
we  cannot  tell  if  our  ruler  is  alive  or  dead,  and  if  she  is 
dead  then  none  are  left  of  the  true  blood.  She  was  a  small 
woman,  but  very  pretty  and  full  of  wisdom  as  a  mealie- 
cob  with  grains  of  corn,  for  in  all  this  country  there  was 
no  doctoress  or  diviner  like  to  her.  Her  name  was  Sihamba 
Xgenyanga,  the  "Wanderer- by-Moonlight,  which  name  was 
given  her  when  she  was  little,  because  of  her  habit  of 
walking  in  the  dark  alone,  and  she  was  the  only  child  of 
our  late  chief's  iiikosikaas,  a  princess  of  the  Swazis,  the 
father  of  that  lord,  Koraanu,  who  lies  dead  of  the  small- 
pox. But  when  this  chief  died  and  Sihamba  was  called 
upon  to  rule  our  tribe,  quarrels  arose  between  her  and  the 
in d unas  of  the  tribe,  for  she  was  a  very  headstrong  woman. 

"  "\Ve,  the  indunas,  wished  her  to  marry,  but  for  her  own 
reasons  she  would  not  marry;  also  we  wished  to  swear 
allegiance  to  Chaka,  but  she  was  against  it,  saying  that  as 
well  might  a  lamb  swear  allegiance  to  a  wolf  as  the  Um- 
pondwana  to  the  Zulus.  The  end  of  it  was  that  in  a 
temper  she  took  a  bowl  of  water,  and  before  iis  all  washed 
her  hands  of  us,  and  that  same  night  she  vanished  away 
we  know  not  where,  though  rumours  have  reached  us  that 
she  went  south.  From  the  day  of  her  departure,  however, 
things  have  gone  ill  with  us;  the  Zulus  with  whom  we  made 
peace  threaten  us  continually;  her  half-brother,  Koraanu, 
the  slave-born,  was  not  a  good  chief,  and  now  he  is  dead  of 
the  sickness.  So  our  heart  is  heavy  and  our  head  is  in  the 
dust,  and  when  we  saw  your  impi  we  thought  that  Dingann, 
who  now  rules  over  the  Zulus,  had  sent  it  to  eat  us  up 
and  to  take  the  cattle  that  still  remain  to  us. 

"  But  you  say  that  you  come  in  peace,  so  tell  us,  chief, 


220  SWALLOW 

what  it  is  you  desire,  and  I  trust  that  it  may  be  little,  for 
here  we  have  nothing  to  give,  unless,"  he  added  with  mean- 
ing, "  it  be  the  small-pox,  although  we  are  ready  to  fight 
to  the  death  for  what  is  left  to  us,  our  liberty  and  our 
cattle;  and,  chief,  even  a  larger  army  than  yours  might  fail 
to  take  that  stronghold  which  has  but  one  gate." 

When  the  councillor  had  finished  speaking,  Sigwe  called 
aloud: 

"  Lady  Sihamba,  I  pray  you  come  hither,  and  with  you 
the  lady  Swallow,  your  companion." 

Then  Sihamba,  who  was  prepared  for  this  event,  for 
her  hair  was  freshly  dressed  and  powdered  with  blue  mica, 
wearing  her  little  cape  of  fur  and  the  necklace  of  large 
blue  beads,  stepped  from  the  screen  of  bush  behind  which 
she  had  hidden.  With  her,  and  holding  her  hand,  came 
Suzanne,  who  covered  the  raggedness  of  her  clothes  be- 
neath a  splendid  kaross  of  leopards'  skins  that  Sigwe  had 
given  her,  down  which  her  dark  hair  flowed  almost  to  her 
knee.  A  strange  pair  they  made,  the  tall  Suzanne  in  the 
first  bloom  of  her  white  beauty  which  had  suffered  nothing 
in  their  journeying,  and  the  small,  quick-eyed,  delicate- 
featured  Kaffir  woman. 

"  Who  are  these  ?  "  asked  Sigwe  of  the  council. 

The  old  man  looked  at  them  and  answered: 

"  Of  the  white  lady  we  can  say  nothing  except  that  she 
is  very  beautiful;  but,  unless  our  eyes  deceive  us,  she  whom 
she  holds  by  the  hand  is  Sihamba  Ngenyanga,  who  was 
our  chieftainess,  and  who  left  us  because  she  was  angry." 

"  She  is  Sihamba  and  no  one  else,"  said  Sigwe.  "  Si- 
hamba come  back  to  rule  you  in  the  hour  of  need,  and  now 
with  her  own  tongue  she  shall  tell  you  her  story  and  the 
story  of  the  White  Swallow  who  holds  her  by  the  hand." 

So  Sihamba  began,  and  for  an  hour  or  more  she  spoke 


110 W  SUZANNE  BECAME  A    CHIEFTAINESS     221 

to  them,  for  when  she  chose  this  little  woman  had  the  gift 
of  words,  telling  them  all  about  herself,  and  telling  them 
also  the  story  of  the  Swallow,  and  of  how  she  had  brought 
good  luck  to  the  army  of  Sigwe,  and  how  she  was  destined 
to  bring  good  luck  wherever  she  made  her  home.  At  the 
end  of  her  speech  she  said: 

"  Xow,  my  people,  although  I  have  wandered  from  you, 
yet  my  eyes,  which  are  far-seeing,  have  not  been  blind  to 
your  griefs,  and  in  the  hour  of  your  need  I  return  to  you, 
bringing  with  me  the  White  Swallow  to  sojourn  among  you 
for  a  while.  Eeceive  us  if  you  will  and  be  prosperous,  or 
reject  us  and  be  destroyed;  to  us  it  matters  nothing,  it  is 
for  you  to  choose.  But  if  we  come,  we  come  not  as  ser- 
vants but  as  princes  whose  word  cannot  be  questioned, 
and  should  you  accept  us  and  deal  ill  with  us  in  any  way, 
then  your  fate  is  sure.  Ask  the  chief  Sigwe  here  whether 
or  no  the  flight  of  the  Swallow  is  fortunate,  and  whether 
or  no  there  is  wisdom  in  the  mouth  of  Sihamba,  who  is  not 
ashamed  to  serve  her." 

Then  Sigwe  told  them  of  all  the  good  fortune  that  had 
come  to  him  through  Suzanne,  and  of  how  wise  had  been 
the  words  of  Sihamba,  and  told  them,  moreover,  that  if 
they  dealt  ill  by  either  of  them  he  would  return  from  his 
own  country  and  stamp  them  flat. 

Thus  it  came  about  that  the  indiinas  of  the  TTmpond- 
wana  took  back  Sihamba  to  be  their  chieftainess  with  all 
powers,  and  with  her  Suzanne  as  her  equal  in  rule,  and  this 
their  act  was  confirmed  that  same  day  by  a  great  council 
of  the  tribe.  So  that  evening  Suzanne,  mounted  on  the 
scliimmcl,  rode  down  the  ranks  of  the  Eed  Kaffirs,  while 
they  shouted  their  farewells  to  her.  Then  having  parted 
with  Sigwe,  who  almost  wept  at  her  going,  she  passed 


222  SWALLOW 

with  Sihamba,  the  lad  Zinti,  and  a  great  herd  of  cattle — 
her  tithe  of  the  spoil — to  the  mountain  Umpondwana, 
where  all  the  tribe  were  waiting  to  receive  them.  They 
rode  up  to  the  flanks  of  the  mountain,  and  through  the 
narrow  pass  and  the  red  wall  of  rock  to  the  tableland  upon 
its  top,  where  stood  the  chief's  huts  and  the  cattle-kraal, 
and  here  they  found  the  people  gathered. 

"  Give  us  a  blessing,"  these  cried.  "  Grant  to  us  that 
rain  may  fall." 

Sihamba  spoke  with  Suzanne  and  answered: 

"  My  people,  I  have  entreated  of  the  White  Swallow,  and 
for  your  sake  she  will  pray  that  rain  may  fall  ere  long." 

Now  Sihamba  knew  the  signs  of  the  weather,  and  as  it 
happened  rain  began  to  fall  that  night  in  torrents,  and  fell 
for  three  days  almost  without  ceasing,  washing  the  sick- 
ness away  with  it.  So  the  Umpondwana  blessed  the  name 
of  Sihamba  and  the  White  Swallow,  and  these  two  ruled 
over  them  without  question,  life  and  death  hanging  upon 
their  words. 

And  there,  a  chieftainess  among  savages,  Suzanne  was 
fated  to  dwell  for  more  than  two  long  years. 


CHAPTEE    XXIV 

THE    MADNESS    OF    RALPH    KENZIE 

Now  my  story  goes  back  to  that  night  at  the  stead  when 
I,  Suzanne  Botmar  and  my  husband,  Jan  Botmar,  were 
awakened  from  our  sleep  to  learn  that  our  daughter  had 
been  carried  off  by  that  mad  villain,  Piet  Van  Vooren,  and 
that  her  husband  Ealph  lay  senseless  and  wounded  in  the 
waggon  at  the  door.  We  carried  him  in,  groaning  in  our 
bitter  grief,  and  despatched  messengers  to  arouse  all  the 
Kaffirs  on  and  about  the  place  whom  we  could  trust  and 
to  a  party  of  Boers,  six  men  in  all,  who  chanced  to  have 
outspanned  that  night  upon  the  borders  of  our  farm  to 
shoot  vildebeest  and  blesbok.  Also  we  sent  another  mes- 
senger mounted  on  a  good  horse  to  the  house  of  that 
neighbour  who  was  being  attended  by  the  doctor  from  the 
dorp,  praying  that  he  would  come  with  all  speed  to  visit 
Ralph,  which  indeed  he  did,  for  he  was  with  us  by  half- 
past  eight  in  the  morning. 

Within  an  hour  of  the  despatch  of  the  messengers  the 
Boers  rode  up  from  their  waggons,  and  to  them,  as  well  as 
to  ourselves  and  to  the  Kaffirs  who  had  gathered,  the 
driver  and  voorlooper  'old  all  they  knew  of  the  terrible 
crime  that  had  been  done  upon  the  persons  of  Ralph 
Kenzie  and  his  wife  by  Piet  Van  Vooren  and  his  band. 
Also  they  repeated  all  that  Zinti  had  taught  them  of  the 


224  SWALLOW 

road  to  the  secret  krantz  whither  it  was  believed  that  he 
had  carried  off  Suzanne.  Then  Jan  asked  those  present 
if  they  would  help  him  in  this  trouble,  and  being  true 
men,  one  and  all,  they  answered  yes,  so  by  seven  in  the 
morning  the  little  commando,  numbering  twenty-one  guns 
— eight  white  men  and  thirteen  Kaffirs — started  to  seek 
for  Swart  Piet's  hiding-place,  and  to  rescue  Suzanne  if 
they  might. 

"  Alas!  "  I  said  to  Jan  as  he  bade  me  farewell,  "  at  the 
best  I  fear  that  you  will  be  too  late." 

"  We  must  trust  in  God/'  he  answered  heavily. 

"  Never  had  we  more  need  of  trust,  husband,  but  I  think 
that  God  turns  His  face  from  us  because  of  the  lies  we  told 
to  the  Englishmen,  for  now  the  punishment  which  you 
foresaw  has  fallen." 

"  Then,  wife,  it  were  more  just  that  it  should  have  fallen 
on  us  who  were  guilty,  and  not  on  these  two  who  are 
innocent.  But  still  I  say  I  trust  in  God — and  in  Sihamba  " 
—he  added  by  an  afterthought,  "for  she  is  brave  and 
clever,  and  can  run  upon  a  path  which  others  cannot  even 
see." 

Then  they  went,  and  were  away  five  days,  or  it  may  have 
been  six.  They  started  early  on  Tuesday,  and  upon  the 
Thursday  morning,  after  much  trouble,  by  the  help  of  a 
native  whom  they  captured,  they  found  Swart  Piet's  kraal, 
but  of  Swart  Piet  or  Suzanne  or  the  hidden  krantz  they 
could  see  nothing.  Indeed,  it  was  not  until  they  had 
gathered  together  every  man  they  could  find  in  the  kraal 
and  tied  them  to  trees,  saying  that  they  would  shoot  them, 
that  a  woman,  the  wife  of  one  of  the  men,  led  them  to  a 
rock  wall  and  showed  the  secret  of  the  kloof.  They  en- 
tered and  found  the  big  hut  with  the  body  of  the  man 
whom  Sihamba  had  killed  still  lying  in  it,  and  also  the 


THE  MADNESS  OF  RALPH  KENZIE  225 

knife  with  which  Suzanne  had  intended  to  destroy  herself, 
and  which  her  father  knew  again. 

Then  by  degrees  they  discovered  the  whole  story,  for  the 
woman  pointed  out  to  them  the  man  who  had  guarded  the 
entrance  to  the  kloof,  at  whom  Zinti  had  fired,  and  under 
fear  of  death  this  man  confessed  all  he  knew,  which  was 
that  Suzanne,  Sihamba,  and  Zinti  had  escaped  northward 
upon  their  horses,  followed  by  Swart  Piet  and  his  band. 

Accordingly  northwards  they  rode,  but  they  never  found 
any  traces  of  them,  for  rain  had  fallen,  washing  out  their 
spoor,  and  as  might  be  expected  in  that  vast  veldt  they 
headed  in  the  wrong  direction.  So  at  last  worn  out,  they 
returned  to  the  stead,  hoping  that  Suzanne  and  Sihamba 
would  have  found  their  way  back  there,  but  hoping  in  vain. 

After  that  for  days  and  weeks  they  searched  and  hunted, 
but  quite  without  result,  for  as  it  chanced  the  Kaffirs  who 
lived  between  the  territory  of  Sigwe  and  the  stead  rose  in 
arms  just  then,  and  began  to  raid  the  Boer  farms,  stealing 
the  cattle,  including  some  of  our  own,  so  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  travel  in  their  country,  and  therefore  nobody 
ever  reached  the  town  of  Sigwe  to  make  inquiries  there. 

The  end  of  it  was  that,  exhausted  by  search  and  sorrow, 
Jan  sat  down  at  home  and  abandoned  hope;  nor  could  the 
prayers  and  urgings  of  Ralph,  who  all  this  while  was 
unable  even  to  mount  a  horse,  persuade  him  to  go  out 
again  upon  so  fruitless  an  errand. 

"  Xo,  son,"  he  answered,  "  long  before  this  the  girl  is 
either  dead  or  she  is  safe  far  away,  and  in  either  event  it 
is  useless  to  look  for  her  about  here,  since  Van  Vooren's 
kraal  is  watched,  and  we  know  that  she  is  not  in  it."  To 
which  Ralph  would  answer: 

"  She  is  not  dead,  I  know  that  she  is  not  dead,"  and  we 
understood  that  he  spoke  of  the  vision  which  had  come  to 
15 


226  SWALLOW 

him,  for  I  had  told  the  tale  of  it  to  Jan.  But  in  his  heart 
Jan  put  no  faith  in  the  vision,  and  believed  that  Suzanne, 
our  beloved  child,  had  been  dead  for  many  days,  for  he 
was  certain  that  she  would  die  rather  than  fall  again  into 
the  hands  of  Van  Vooren,  as  I  was  also,  and  indeed  of 
this  we  were  glad  to  be  sure. 

To  Ealph,  however,  that  we  might  comfort  him  in  his 
sorrow,  which  was  even  more  terrible  than  our  own,  we 
made  pretence  that  we  believed  Suzanne  to  be  hiding  far 
away,  but  unable  to  communicate  with  us,  as  in  fact  she 
was. 

Oh!  our  lives  were  sad  during  those  bitter  months.  Yes, 
the  light  had  gone  out  of  our  lives,  and  often  we  wished, 
the  three  of  us,  that  already  we  were  resting  in  the  grave. 
As  he  recovered  from  his  wounds  and  the  strength  of  his 
body  came  back  to  him,  a  kind  of  gentle  madness  took  hold 
of  Kalph  which  it  wrung  our  hearts  to  see.  For  hours, 
sometimes  for  days  indeed,  he  would  sit  about  the  place 
brooding  and  saying  no  word.  At  other  times  he  would 
mount  his  horse  and  ride  away  none  knew  whither,  per- 
haps not  to  return  that  night  or  the  next,  or  the  next,  till 
we  were  terrified  by  the  thought  that  he  too  might  never 
come  back  again.  It  was  useless  to  be  angry  with  him,  for 
he  would  only  answer  with  a  little  smile. 

"  You  forget;  I  must  be  seeking  my  wife,  who  is  waiting 
for  me  upon  the  Mountain  of  the  Hand,"  and  then  we 
learned  that  he  had  ridden  to  a  far  off  hill  to  examine  it, 
or  to  see  some  travellers  or  natives  and  ask  of  them  if  they 
knew  or  had  heard  of  such  a  mountain,  with  ridges  upon  its 
eastern  slopes  fashioned  like  the  thumb  and  fingers  of  a 
man's  hand.  Indeed,  in  all  that  countryside,  among  both 
Boers  and  natives,  Ealph  won  the  by-name  of  the  "  Man  of 
the  Mountain  "  because  he  rarely  spoke  of  aught  else.  But 


THE  MADNESS  OF  RALPH  KENZIE  227 

still  folk,  black  and  white,  knew  the  reason  of  his  madness 
and  bore  with  him,  pitying  his  grief. 

It  was,  I  remember,  in  the  season  after  Suzanne  had 
vanished  that  the  Kaffirs  became  so  angry  and  dangerous. 
For  my  part  I  believe  that  those  in  our  neighbourhood 
were  stirred  up  by  the  emissaries  of  Swart  Piet,  for  though 
he  had  gone  none  knew  where,  his  tools  and  agents  re- 
mained behind  him.  However  this  may  have  been,  all 
over  the  country  the  black  men  began  to  raid  the  stock, 
and  in  our  case  they  ended  by  attacking  the  stead  also,  a 
great  number  of  them  armed  with  guns.  Fortunately  we 
had  a  little  warning,  and  they  were  very  sad  Kaffirs  that 
went  away  next  day;  moreover,  forty  of  them  never  went 
away  at  all.  Just  at  dawn,  when  they  had  been  besieging 
the  house  for  some  hours,  shouting,  banging  off  their  guns, 
and  trying  to  fire  the  roof  by  means  of  assegais  with  tufts 
of  blazing  grass  tied  on  to  them,  Jan,  Kalph,  and  about 
twenty  of  our  people  crept  down  under  cover  of  the 
orchard  wall  and  sallied  out  upon  them. 

'•'Almighty!  how  those  men  fought,  especially  Jan  and 
Kalph.  It  was  a  pleasure  to  see  them,  for  I  watched  the 
whole  thing  from  the  stoep,  though  1  admit  that  I  was 
anxious,  since  it  was  evident  that  neither  of  them  seemed 
to  care  whether  he  lived  or  died.  However,  as  it  turned 
out,  it  was  not  they  who  died,  but  the  Kaffirs,  who  went  ofT 
with  some  few  cattle  and  afterwards  left  us  in  peace. 

And  now  comes  the  strange  part  of  the  affair,  though  I 
scarcely  like  to  tell  it,  lest  after  all  these  years  it  should 
not  be  believed.  Someone  connected  with  the  London 
Missionary  Society  reported  us  to  ihc  Government  at  the 
Cape  for  shooting  poor,  innocent  black  men,  and  it  was 
threatened  that  Jan  and  Ralph  would  be  put  upon  their 
trial  for  murder  bv  the  British  Government.  Indeed,  1 


228  SWALLOW 

believe  that  this  would  have  been  done  had  not  we  and 
others  of  our  neighbours  let  it  be  clearly  known  that  before 
they  were  dragged  to  the  common  gaol  there  would  be 
killing  not  of  black  but  of  white  men. 

Our  case  was  only  one  of  many,,  since  in  those  times 
there  was  no  security  for  us  Boers — we  were  robbed,  we 
were  slandered,  we  were  deserted.  Our  goods  were  taken 
and  we  were  not  compensated;  the  Kaffirs  stole  our  herds, 
and  if  we  resisted  them  we  were  tried  as  murderers;  our 
slaves  were  freed,  and  we  were  cheated  of  their  value,  and 
the  word  of  a  black  man  was  accepted  before  our  solemn 
oath  upon  the  Bible. 

No  wonder  that  we  grew  tired  of  it  and  trekked,  seeking 
to  shake  the  dust  of  British  rule  from  off  our  feet,  and  to 
find  a  new  home  for  ourselves  out  of  the  reach  of  the  hand 
of  the  accursed  British  Government.  Oh!  I  know  that 
there  are  two  sides  to  the  story,  and  I  daresay  that  the 
British  Government  meant  well,  but  at  the  least  it  was  a 
fool,  and  it  always  will  be  a  fool  with  its  Secretaries  of 
State,  who  know  nothing  sitting  far  away  there  in  London, 
and  its  Governors,  whose  only  business  is  to  please  the 
Secretaries  of  State,  that  when  the  country  they  are  sent 
to  rule  grows  sick  of  them,  they  may  win  another  post  with 
larger  pay. 

Well,  this  tale  is  of  people  and  not  of  politics,  so  I  will 
say  no  more  of  the  causes  that  brought  about  the  great 
trek  of  the  Boers  from  the  old  Colony  and  sent  them  forth 
into  the  wilderness,  there  to  make  war  with  the  savage 
man  and  found  new  countries  for  themselves.  I  know 
those  causes,  for  Jan  and  Ralph  and  I  were  of  the  number 
of  the  voortrekkers ;  still,  had  it  not  been  for  the  loss  of 
Suzanne,  I  do  not  think  that  we  should  have  trekked,  for  we 
loved  the  home  we  had  made  upon  the  face  of  the  wild  veldt. 


THE  MADNESS  OF  RALPH  KEN7AE  2£6 

But  now  that  she  was  gone  it  was  no  home  for  us;  every 
room  of  the  house,  every  tree  in  the  garden,  every  ox  and 
horse  and  sheep  reminded  us  of  her.  Yes,  even  the  dis- 
tant roar  of  the  ocean  and  the  sighing  of  the  winds  among 
the  grasses  seemed  to  speak  of  her.  These  were  the 
flowers  she  loved,  that  was  the  stone  she  sat  on,  yonder  was 
the  path  which  day  by  day  she  trod.  The  very  air  was 
thick  with  memories  of  her,  and  the  tones  of  her  lost  voice 
seemed  to  linger  in  the  echoes  of  the  hills  at  night. 

It  was  upon  the  anniversary  of  the  marriage  of  Ealph 
and  Suzanne,  yes,  on  the  very  day  year  of  her  taking  by 
Piet  Van  Vooren,  that  we  made  up  our  minds  to  go.  We 
had  dined  and  Ralph  sat  quite  silent,  his  head  bowed  a 
little  upon  his  breast,  as  Avas  his  custom,  while  Jan  spoke 
loudly  of  the  wrongs  of  the  Boers  at  the  hand  of  the  British 
Government.  I  do  not  think  that  he  was  much  troubled 
with  those  wrongs  just  then,  but  he  talked  because  he 
wished  to  interest  Ealph  and  turn  his  mind  from  sad 
thoughts. 

"  What  think  you  of  it,  son?'"  said  Jan  at  length,  for 
it  is  hard  work  talking  all  by  oneself,  even  when  one  has 
the  British  Government  to  abuse,  which  was  the  only  sub- 
ject that  made  Jan  a  wordy  man. 

"  I,  father?  "  answered  Ealph  with  a  start,  which  showed 
me  that  his  mind  was  far  away.  "I  do  not  quite  know  what 
I  think.  I  should  like  to  hear  what  the  English  Govern- 
ment say  about  the  matter,  for  I  think  that  they  mean  to 
be  fair,  only  they  do  not  understand  the  wants  and  troubles 
of  us  Boers  who  live  so  far  away.  Also,  without  doubt  the 
missionaries  mean  well,  but  they  believe  that  a  black  man 
has  a  bigger  soul  than  a  white  man,  whereas  we  who  know 
the  black  man  see  that  there  is  a  difference." 

"  Allemachter,  son,"  said  Jan,  looking  at  him  out  of 


X 

§33  SWALLOW 

the  corner  of  his  eye,  "  cannot  you  show  some  spirit  ?  I 
hoped  that  being  an  Englishman  you  would  have  stood  up 
for  your  own  people,  and  then  we  might  have  quarrelled 
about  it,  which  would  have  done  us  both  good,  but  you 
only  sit  and  talk  like  a  magistrate  in  his  chair,  looking  at 
both  sides  of  the  case  at  once,  which  is  an  evil  habit  for 
men  who  have  to  make  their  way  in  the  world.  Well,  I 
tell  you  that  if  you  had  seen  the  cursed  British  Govern- 
ment hang  your  father  and  uncle  at  Slagter's  Nek,  and  not 
satisfied  with  that,  hang  them  a  second  time,  when  the 
ropes  broke,  just  because  they  tried  to  shoot  a  few  Hot- 
tentot policemen,  you  would  not  think  much  of  its  fairness. 
And  as  for  the  missionaries  of  the  London  Society,  well, 
I  should  like  to  hang  them.,  as  would  be  right  and  proper, 
seeing  that  they  blacken  the  names  of  honest  Boers." 

Ealph  only  smiled  at  this  onslaught,  for  he  was  not  to  be 
stirred  from  his  lethargy  by  talk  about  Slagter's  Nek  and 
the  missionaries.  For  a  while  there  was  silence,  which 
presently  was  broken  by  Jan  roaring  at  me  in  a  loud  voice 
as  though  I  were  deaf. 

"  Vrouw,  let  ons  trek''  and,  to  give  weight  to  his  words, 
he  brought  his  great  fist  down  with  a  bang  upon  the  table, 
knocking  off  a  plate  and  breaking  it. 

I  stooped  to  pick  up  the  pieces,  rating  him  for  his  care- 
lessness as  I  gathered  them,  for  I  wished  to  have  time  to 
think,  although  for  a  long  while  I  had  expected  this. 
When  I  had  found  them  all  I  placed  them  upon  the  table, 
saying: 

"  They  cannot  be  mended,  and — hearts  or  plates — what 
cannot  be  mended  had  best  be  hidden  away.  Hearts  and 
plates  are  brittle  things,  but  the  last  can  be  bought  in 
iron,  as  I  wish  the  first  could  be  also.  Yes,  husband,  we 
will  trek  if  you  desire  it." 


THE  MADNESS  OF  RALPH  KENZIE  231 

"What  say  you,  son?"  asked  Jan. 

Ralph  answered  his  question  by  another.  "  In  which 
direction  will  the  emigrants  trek?" 

"  North,  I  believe,  to  the  Vaal  River." 

"  Then,  father,  I  say  let  us  go,"  he  replied  with  more 
spirit  than  he  had  shown  for  a  long  while,  "  for  I  have 
searched  and  inquired  to  the  south  and  the  east  and  the 
west,  and  in  them  I  can  hear  of  no  mountain  that  has 
ridges  upon  its  eastern  slopes  shaped  like  the  thumb  and 
fingers  of  a  man's  hand  with  a  stream  of  water  issuing  from 
between  the  thumb  and  first  finger." 

N"ow  once  more  we  were  silent,  for  we  saw  that  his 
madness  had  again  taken  hold  of  Ralph's  mind,  and  that 
was  a  sad  silence. 


CHAPTER    XXV 

THE    GEEAT   TREK 

OF  the  morrow  we  began  to  make  ready,  and  a  month 
later  we  trekked  from  our  much  loved  home.  Jan  tried  to 
sell  the  farm,  which  was  a  very  good  one  of  over  six  thou- 
sand morgen,  or  twelve  thousand  English  acres,  well 
watered,  and  having  on  it  a  dwelling  house  built  of  stone, 
with  large  kraals  and  out-buildings,  an  orchard  of  fruit- 
trees,  and  twenty  morgen  of  crop  lands  that  could  be  irri- 
gated in  the  dry  season,  well  fenced  in  with  walls  built  of 
loose  stones.  But  no  one  would  make  a  bid  for  it,  for  there 
were  few  English  about,  and  most  of  the  farmers  were 
trekking,  so  at  last  he  parted  with  it  to  a  cowardly  fellow, 
a  Boer  by  birth,  but,  as  I  believe,  a  spy  of  the  British 
Government,  who  gave  him  fifty  pounds  and  an  old  waggon 
in  exchange  for  the  place  and  everything  upon  it  except 
the  stock  which  we  took  with  us. 

Some  years  ago  I  heard  that  this  man's  grandson  sold 
that  same  farm  for  twenty  thousand  pounds  in  cash,  and 
that  now  it  is  a  place  where  they  breed  horses,  angora  goats, 
and  ostriches  in  great  numbers.  It  makes  me  mad  to 
think  that  the  descendant  of  that  low  spy  should  have 
profited  so  largely  out  of  the  land  which  was  ours,  but  so 
it  often  chances  that  those  whose  hearts  arc  small  and 
mean  reap  the  reward  of  the  courage  and  misfortunes  of 


THE  GREAT  TREK  SJ33 

braver  men.  Nor  should  we  grumble  indeed,  seeing  that 
the  Lord  has  blessed  us  greatly  in  land  and  goods. 

Ah!  It  was  a  sad  home  leaving.  The  day  before  we 
trekked  Ralph  rode  to  visit  his  mother's  grave  for  the 
last  time,  and  then,  following  the  track  which  he  had 
taken  as  a  child,  he  went  to  the  kloof  where  Suzanne  had 
found  him,  and  sat  down  upon  that  stone  on  which  as  a 
child  he  had  knelt  in  prayer,  and  where  in  after  years  he 
and  his  lost  wife  had  told  their  love.  Jan  accompanied 
him  upon  this  dismal  journey,  for  to  speak  truth  we  did 
not  like  to  leave  him  more  alone  than  we  could  help,  since 
his  manner  remained  strange,  and  when  he  set  out  on  his 
solitary  rides  we  could  not  be  certain  that  we  should  ever 
see  him  come  back  again. 

Next  morning  we  trekked  away,  and  my  eyes  were  so  full 
of  tears  as  I  sat  beneath  the  tent  of  the  first  waggon  that 
the  familiar  landscape  and  the  home  where  I  lived  for 
twenty  years  and  more  were  blotted  from  my  sight.  But 
I  could  still  hear  the  long-nosed  spy  who  had  bought  the 
farm,  and  who  was  waiting  to  enter  into  possession,  talking 
to  Jan. 

"  Good-bye,  Heer  Botmar,"  he  said,  "  and  good  fortune 
to  you  upon  your  journey.  For  my  part  I  cannot  under- 
stand you  emigrants.  The  English  Government  is  an  ac- 
cursed Government,  no  doubt;  still  1  would  not  sell  a 
farm  and  a  house  like  this  for  fifty  pounds  and  an  old 
waggon  in  order  to  wander  in  the  wilderness  to  escape 
from  it,  there  to  be  eaten  by  lions  or  murdered  by  Kaffirs. 
Still,  good-bye,  and  good  luck  to  you,  and  I  hope  that  you 
are  as  content  with  your  bargain  as  I  am  with  mine." 

"  The  Lord  will  be  our  guide,  as  He  was  to  the  Israelites 
of  old/'  answered  Jan  in  a  somewhat  troubled  voice. 

"  Yes,  yes;  they  all  say  that,  Heer  Botmar,  and  I  trust 


234  SWALLOW 

that  they  are  right,  for  you  will  need  nothing  less  than  a 
cloud  by  day  and  a  pillar  of  fire  in  the  darkness  to  protect 
you  from  all  the  dangers  in  your  path.  Also  I  hope  that 
the  hosts  of  Pharaoh,  in  the  shape  of  English  soldiers,  will 
not  fetch  you  back  before  you  cross  the  border,  for  then, 
when  you  have  sold  your  birthright  in  Egypt,  and  are 
cut  off  from  the  Promised  Land,  your  lot  will  be  hard, 
Heer  Botmar." 

"  The  Lord  will  guide  and  protect  us,"  repeated  Jan, 
and  gave  the  word  to  trek. 

In  my  heart  at  the  time  I  was  inclined  to  agree  with  that 
cheat's  sneering  words;  and  yet  Jan  was  right,  and  not  I, 
for  of  the  truth  the  Lord  did  guide  and  protect  us.  Has 
anything  more  wonderful  happened  in  the  world  than  this 
journey  of  a  few  farmers,  cumbered  with  women  and  chil- 
dren, and  armed  only  with  old-fashioned  muzzle-loading 
guns,  into  a  vast,  unknown  land,  peopled  by  savages  and 
wild  beasts?  Yet,  look  what  they  did.  They  conquered 
Moselikatse;  they  broke  the  strength  of  Dingaan  and  all 
his  Zulu  impis;  they  peopled  the  Free  State,  the  Transvaal, 
and  Natal.  That  was  the  work  of  those  few  farmers,  and  I 
say  that  of  their  own  strength  they  could  never  have  done 
it;  the  strength  was  given  to  them  from  above;  the  Sword 
of  God  was  in  their  hand,  and  He  guided  that  hand  and 
blessed  it. 

Our  first  outspan  was  at  the  spot  where  Van  Vooren  had 
tried  to  murder  Ralph  and  carried  off  Suzanne  upon  her 
wedding-day.  We  did  not  stop  there  long,  for  the  place 
was  bad  for  Ralph,  who  sat  upon  the  box  of  a  waggon 
staring  moodily  at  some  blackened  stones,  which,  as  one  of 
the  drivers  told  me — the  same  man  who  accompanied  them 
upon  their  wedding  journey — had  been  brought  by  Ralph 


THE  GREAT  TREK  235 

from  the  kloof  and  used  by  Suzanne  to  set  the  kettle  on 
when  they  took  their  meal  together.  Led  by  this  same 
driver  I  walked  to  the  edge  of  the  cliff — for  I  had  never 
visited  the  place  before — and  looked  at  the  deep  sea-pool, 
forty  feet  below  me,  into  which  Swart  Piet  had  thrown 
Ralph  after  he  had  shot  him.  Also  I  went  down  to  the 
edge  of  the  pool  and  climbed  up  again  by  the  path  along 
which  Zinti  and  Sihamba  had  staggered  with  his  senseless 
body.  Afterwards  I  returned  to  the  waggons  with  a  heart 
full  of  thankfulness  and  wonder  that  he  should  still  be 
alive  among  us  to-day,  although  alas,  there  was  much  for 
which  I  could  not  feel  thankful,  at  least  not  then. 

Now  it  is  of  little  use  that  I  should  set  down  the  history 
of  this  trek  of  ours  day  by  day,  for  if  I  did  my  story  would 
have  no  end.  It  is  enough  to  tell  that  in  company  with 
other  emigrants  we  crossed  the  Orange  River,  heading  for 
Thaba  Nchu,  which  had  been  the  chief  town  of  Maroko 
before  Moselikatse  drove  him  out  of  the  Marico  country. 
Here  several  bands  of  emigrants  were  to  meet,  and  here 
they  did  meet,  but  not  until  a  year  or  more  had  passed 
since  we  left  the  colony  and  wandered  out  into  the  veldt. 

Ah!  I  tell  you,  my  child,  the  veldt  in  those  days  was 
different  indeed  from  what  it  is  now.  The  land  itself 
remains  the  same  except  where  white  men  have  built  towns 
upon  it,  but  all  else  is  changed.  Then  it  was  black  with 
game  when  the  grass  was  green;  yes,  at  times  I  have  seen 
it  so  black  for  miles  that  we  could  scarcely  see  the  grass. 
There  were  all  sorts  of  them,  springbucks  in  myriads,  bles- 
bok  and  quagga  and  wildebeeste  in  thousands,  sable  ante- 
lope, sassaby  and  hartebeeste  in  herds,  eland,  giraffe  and 
koodoo  in  troops;  while  the  forests  were  full  of  elephant 
and  the  streams  of  sea-cow.  They  are  all  gone  now,  the 
beautiful  wild  creatures;  the  guns  of  the  white  men  have 


236  SWALLOW 

killed  them  out  or  driven  them  away,  and  I  suppose  that 
it  is  as  well  that  they  are  gone,  for  while  the  game  is  in 
such  plenty  the  men  will  not  work.  Still  I  for  one  am 
sorry  to  lose  the  sight  of  them,  and  had  it  not  been  for  their 
numbers  we  Boers  should  never  have  lasted  through  that 
long  trek,  for  often  and  often  we  lived  upon  buck's  flesh 
and  little  else  for  weeks  together. 

At  Thaba  Nchu  we  camped,  waiting  for  other  bands  of 
emigrants,  but  after  four  or  five  months  some  of  our  num- 
ber grew  so  impatient  that  they  started  off  by  themselves. 
Among  these  were  the  companies  under  the  Heer  Trie- 
gaart  and  the  Heer  Kensenburg,  who  wished  us  to  accom- 
pany him,  but  Jan  would  not,  I  do  not  know  why.  It 
was  as  well,  for  the  knob-nosed  Kaffirs  killed  him  and 
everybody  with  him.  Triegaart,  who  had  separated  from 
him,  trekked  to  Delagoa  Bay,  and  reached  it,  where  nearly 
all  his  people  died  of  fever. 

After  that  we  moved  northwards  in  detachments,  instead 
of  keeping  together  as  we  should  have  done,  with  the 
result  that  several  of  our  parties  were  fallen  upon  and 
murdered  by  the  warriors  of  Moselikatse.  Our  line  of 
march  was  between  where  Bloemfontein  and  Winburg  now 
stand  in  the  Orange  Free  State,  and  it  was  south  of  the 
Vaal,  not  far  from  the  Ehenoster  Eiver  that  Moselikatse 
attacked  us. 

I  cannot  tell  the  tale  of  all  this  war,  I  can  only  tell  of 
what  I  saw  myself.  We  were  of  the  party  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Carl  Celliers,  afterwards  an  elder  of  the  church  at 
Kronnstadt.  Celliers  went  on  a  commission  to  Zoutpans- 
berg  to  spy  out  the  land,  and  it  was  while  he  was  away 
that  so  many  families  were  cut  off  by  Moselikatse,  the 
remainder  of  them,  with  such  of  their  women  and  children 
as  were  left  alive,  retreating  to  our  laager.  Then  Celliers 


THE   GREAT  TREK  237 

returned  from  his  commission,  and  we  retired  to  a  place 
called  Arechtkop,  near  the  fthenoster  Eiver;  altogether  we 
numbered  not  more  than  fifty  or  sixty  souls,  including 
women  and  children. 

Here  we  heard  that  Moselikatse  was  advancing  to  make 
an  end  of  us,  so  we  made  our  laager  as  strong  as  we  could, 
lashing  the  disselboom  of  each  waggon  beneath  the  frame- 
work of  that  before  it  and  filling  the  spaces  beneath  and 
between  with  the  crowns  and  boughs  of  sharp-thorned 
mimosa  trees,  which  we  tied  to  the  trek  tows  and  brake 
chains  so  that  they  could  not  be  torn  away.  Also  in  the 
middle  of  the  laager  we  made  an  inner  defence  of  seven 
waggons,  in  which  were  placed  the  women  and  children, 
with  the  spare  food  and  gunpowder,  but  the  cattle  we 
were  obliged  to  leave  outside.  Early  on  the  morning  when 
we  had  finished  the  laager  we  heard  that  the  impi  of 
Moselikatse  was  close  to  us,  and  the  men  to  the  number  of 
over  thirty  rode  out  to  look  for  it,  leaving  but  a  few  to 
defend  the  camp. 

About  an  hour's  ride  away  they  found  the  Kaffirs,  thou- 
sands of  them,  and  a  Hottentot  who  could  speak  their 
tongue  was  instructed  to  call  to  them  and  ask  them  why 
they  attacked  us.  By  way  of  answer  they  shouted  out  the 
name  of  their  chief  and  began  to  charge,  whereupon  our 
men  dismounted  from  their  horses  and  opened  fire  upon 
them,  mounting  again  before  they  could  come  near.  So 
the  fight  went  on  until  the  laager  was  reached,  and  many 
Kaffirs  were  killed  without  any  loss  to  the  Boers,  for 
luckily  in  those  days  the  natives  had  no  firearms. 

I  remember  that  we  women  were  moulding  bullets  when 
the  men  rode  in.  and  very  thankful  we  were  to  find  that 
not  one  of  them  was  even  wounded.  While  they  ate  some- 
thing we  washed  out  their  guns,  and  at  intervals  near  the 


238  SWALLOW 

places  where  each  man  must  stand  behind  the  waggons  we 
piled  little  heaps  of  powder  and  bullets  upon  buckskins 
and  pieces  of  canvas  laid  on  the  ground;  also  we  did  all 
we  could  to  strengthen  our  defences  still  further  by  bind- 
ing ox-hides  over  the  waggon  wheels  and  thrusting  in  more 
thorns  between  them. 

Then,  as  the  enemy  was  still  preparing  to  attack  us,  the 
Heer  Celliers  called  us  together,  and  there  in  the  laager, 
while  all  knelt  around  him,  even  to  the  smallest  child,  he 
put  up  a  prayer  to  God  asking  that  we  might  be  forgiven 
our  sins,  and  that  He  would  look  upon  us  and  protect 
us  in  our  great  need.  . 

It  was  a  strange  sight.  There  we  all  knelt  in  the  (juiet 
sunshine  while  he  prayed  in  an  earnest  voice,  and  we  fol- 
lowed his  words  with  our  hearts,  every  one  of  us,  men  and 
women,  holding  guns  or  axes  in  our  hands.  Xcver  had 
human  beings  more  need  for  prayer,  for  through  the  cracks 
between  the  waggons  we  could  see  Moselikatse's  Zulus,  six 
or  seven  thousand  of  them,  forming  themselves  into  three 
bodies  to  rush  upon  us  and  murder  us,  and  that  was  a 
dreadful  sight  for  fifty  or  sixty  people,  of  whom  some  were 
little  children. 

When  we  had  finished  praying,  husbands  and  wives  and 
parents  and  children  kissed  each  other,  and  then  the  little 
ones  and  some  of  the  women  who  were  sick  or  aged  were 
put  behind  the  seven  waggons  in  the  centre  of  the  laager, 
round  which  were  tied  the  horses,  while  the  rest  of  us  went 
to  our  stations,  men  and  women  together.  I  stood  behind 
Jan  and  Ralph,  who  fought  side  by  side,  and,  assisted  by 
a  girl  of  fourteen  years  of  age,  loaded  their  spare  guns. 
Now  there  was  a  great  silence  in  the  camp,  and  suddenly 
in  the  silence,  Jan,  who  was  looking  through  his  loophole, 
whispered: 


THE  GREAT  TREK  239 

"  Allemachter!  here  they  come." 

And  come  they  did,  with  a  rush  and  a  roar  from  three 
sides  at  once,  while  men  drew  in  their  breath  and  set  their 
faces  for  the  struggle.  Still  no  one  fired,  for  the  order 
was  that  we  were  to  save  our  powder  until  Celliers  let  off 
his  gun.  Already  the  savages  were  within  thirty  paces  of 
us,  a  countless  mass  of  men  packed  like  sheep  in  a  kraal, 
their  fierce  eyes  shewing  white  as  ivory  in  the  sunlight, 
their  cruel  spears  quivering  in  their  hands,  when  the  signal 
was  given  and  every  gun,  some  loaded  with  slugs  and  some 
with  bullets,  was  discharged  point-blank  into  the  thick 
of  them. 

Over  they  rolled  by  dozens,  but  that  did  not  stop  the 
rest,  who,  in  spite  of  our  pitiless  fire,  rushed  up  to  the 
waggons  and  gripped  them  with  their  hands,  striving  to 
drag  them  apart,  till  the  whole  line  of  them  rocked  and 
surged  and  creaked  like  boats  upon  the  sea,  while  the  air 
grew  thick  with  smoke  rising  straight  up  towards  the  sky, 
and  through  the  smoke  assegais  flashed  as  thick  as  rain. 

But  although  some  of  the  heavy  laden  waggons  were 
dragged  a  foot  or  more  outward  they  held  together,  and 
the  storm  of  spears  flying  over  our  heads  did  little  harm. 
Heavens!  what  a  fight  was  that,  the  fight  of  fifty  against  six 
thousand. 

Not  more  than  seven  feet  of  space  divided  us  from  that 
shrieking  sea  of  foes  into  which  we  poured  bullets  at 
hazard,  for  there  was  no  need  to  aim,  as  fast  as  the  guns 
could  be  loaded.  Suddenly  I  heard  the  girl  call  out: 

*'  Kek,  tante,  da  i,s  ecu  xirarlzcl !  "  (Look,  aunt,  there  is 
a  black  man.) 

I  looked,  and  just  at  my  side  I  saw  a  great  savage  who 
had  forced  his  way  through  the  thorns  and  crawled  be- 
neath the  waggon  into  the  laager.  The  gun  in  my  hand 


240  SWALLOW 

was  empty,  but  by  me  lay  an  axe  which  I  snatched  up, 
and  as  he  rose  to  his  knees  I  struck  him  with  all  my 
strength  upon  the  neck  and  killed  him  at  a  blow.  Yes, 
my  child,  that  was  the  kind  of  work  to  which  we  wives 
of  the  voortrekkers  had  to  put  a  needle. 

Jan  had  just  fired  his  gun,  and  seeing  the  man  he  sprang 
to  help  me,  whereon  three  more  Kaffirs  following  on  the 
dead  soldier's  path  crawled  out  from  under  the  waggon. 
Two  of  them  gained  their  feet  and  ran  at  him  lifting  their 
assegais.  I  thought  that  all  was  lost,  for  one  hole  in  our 
defence  was  like  a  pin  prick  to  a  bladder,  but  with  a  shout 
Jan  dropped  the  empty  gun  and  rushed  to  meet  them. 
He  caught  them  by  the  throat,  the  two  of  them,  one  in 
each  of  his  great  hands,  and  before  they  could  spear  him 
dashed  their  heads  together  with  such  desperate  strength 
that  they  fell  down  and  never  stirred  again.  This  was 
always  thought  something  of  a  feat,  for  as  everybody  knows 
the  skulls  of  Kaffirs  are  thick. 

By  this  time  the  girl  had  handed  Ealph  his  second  gun 
loaded,  and  with  it  he  shot  the  third  Kaffir;  then  he  also 
did  a  brave  thing,  for  seeing  that  more  Zulus  were  begin- 
ning to  creep  through  the  hole,  he  snatched  the  assegai 
from  a  dead  man's  hand,  and  stopped  the  gap  with  his  own 
body,  lying  flat  upon  his  stomach  and  thrusting  at  their 
heads  with  the  spear.  Soon  we  dragged  him  out  with 
only  one  slight  wound,  pushing  the  bodies  of  the  Kaffirs 
into  his  place,  and  over  them  spare  branches  of  thorn,  so 
that  the  breach  was  made  good. 

This  was  the  turning  point  of  the  fight,  for  though  after 
it  one  other  Kaffir  managed  to  get  into  the  laager,  where 
he  was  cut  down,  and  two  Boers,  Xicholas  Potgieter  and 
Pieter  Botha  were  killed  by  assegais  thrown  from  without, 
from  that  moment  the  attack  began  to  slacken.  In  thirty 


THE  GREAT  TREK  241 

minutes  from  the  time  that  Celliers  had  fired  the  first  shot, 
Moselikatse's  general,  whose  name  was  Ivalipi,  had  given 
the  order  to  retire,  and  his  hosts  drew  off  sullenly,  for  we 
had  beaten  them. 

Thirty  minutes!  Only  thirty  minutes — the  shadows  had 
shifted  hut  a  few  inches  on  the  grass,  and  yet  now  that  it 
was  done  with  it  seemed  like  half  a  lifetime.  Panting  and 
begrimed  with  smoke  and  powder,  we  stood  looking  at 
each  other  and  around  us.  The  tents  of  the  waggons  were 
ripped  to  pieces,  in  our  own  I  counted  more  than  sixty 
spear  cuts,  and  the  trampled  turf  inside  the  laager  was  like 
the  back  of  an  angry  porcupine,  for  from  it  we  gathered 
nearly  fourteen  hundred  heavy  assegais.  For  the  rest,  the 
two  men  lay  dead  where  they  had  fallen,  their  faces  turned 
towards  the  sky,  each  of  them  pierced  through  by  a  spear, 
and  out  of  our  little  number  twelve  others  were  wounded, 
though  none  of  them  died  of  their  wounds.  Not  a  woman 
or  a  child  was  touched. 

Outside  the  laager  there  was  a  sight  to  see,  for  there 
on  the  red  grass,  some  lying  singly  and  some  in  heaps,  were 
over  four  hundred  Zulu  soldiers,  most  of  them  dead,  and 
how  many  wounded  they  carried  away  with  them  I  cannot 
tell. 

Now  we  saw  that  the  Kaffirs  were  collecting  our  cattle, 
and  about  twenty  men  under  Potgieter  saddled  up  and 
rode  out  to  try  and  recapture  them,  since  without  oxen  to 
draw  the  waggons*  we  were  helpless.  Till  sunset  they  fol- 
lowed them,  killing  many,  but  being  so  few  they  could  not 
recapture  the  cattle,  and  in  the  end  were  obliged  to  return 
empty  handed.  Ralph  went  with  his  party,  and,  because 
of  an  act  of  mercy  which  he  did  then  it  came  about  in  the 
end  that  Suzanne  was  found  and  many  lives  were  saved. 
10 


242  SWALLOW 

So  plenteously  do  our  good  deeds  bear  fruit,  even  in  this 
world. 

Yes,  you  may  have  thought  that  this  tale  of  the  battle 
of  Vetchkop  was  only  put  in  here  because  it  is  one  of  the 
great  experiences  of  an  old  woman's  life.  But  it  is  not 
so;  it  has  all  to  do  with  the  story  of  Ralph  and  of  my 
daughter  Suzanne. 


CHAPTER    XXVI 

HOW    GAASIIA    BROUGHT   GOOD   LUCK 

WHEN  Ralph  returned  from  pursuing  the  Zulus,  as  he 
drew  near  to  the  laager  he  lingered  a  little  behind  the 
others,  for  he  was  very  weary  of  all  this  work  of  killing, 
also  the  flesh-wound  that  he  had  got  from  the  Kaffir's 
spear  having  stiffened  pained  him  when  his  horse  cantered. 
There  was  no  more  danger  now,  for  the  savages  were 
gone,  leaving  their  path  marked  by  the  corpses  of  those 
who  had  been  shot  down  by  the  Boers,  or  of  men  who  had 
limped  away  wounded  either  to  die  upon  the  road  or  to 
be  killed  by  their  comrades  because  their  cane  was  hopeless. 
Following  this  black  trail  of  death  backwards  Ralph  rode 
on,  and  when  he  was  within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  wag- 
gons halted  his  horse  to  study  the  scene.  He  thought 
that  he  would  never  see  such  another,  although,  in  fact, 
that  at  the  Blood  River  when  we  conquered  the  Zulu  king, 
Dingaan,  was  even  more  strange  and  terrible. 

The  last  crimson  rays  of  the  setting  sun  were  flooding 
the  plain  with  light.  Blood-red  they  shone  upon  the  spear- 
torn  canvas  of  the  waggons  and  upon  the  stained  and 
trampled  veldt.  Even  the  bodies  of  the  Kaffirs  looked  red 
as  they  lay  in  every  shape  and  attitude;  some  as  though  they 
slept;  some  with  outstretched  arms  and  spears  gripped 
tight;  some  with  open  mouths  as  they  had  died  shouting 


244  SWALLOW 

their  war-cry.  Ralph  looked  at  them  and  was  thankful 
that  it  was  not  we  white  people  who  lay  thus.,  as  it  might 
well  have  been.  Then,,  just  as  he  was  turning  towards  the 
laager,  he  thought  that  he  saw  something  move  in  a  tussock 
of  thick  grass,  and  rode  towards  it.  Behind  the  tussock 
lay  the  body  of  a  young  Kaffir,  not  an  uncommon  sight 
just  there,  but  Ralph  was  so  sure  that  he  had  seen  it  move 
that,  stirred  by  an  idle  curiosity,  he  dismounted  from  his 
horse  to  examine  it.  This  he  did  carefully,  but  the  only 
hurt  that  he  could  see  was  a  flesh  wound  caused  by  a  slug 
upon  the  foot,  not  serious  in  any  way,  but  such  as  might 
very  well  prevent  a  man  from  running. 

"  This  fellow  is  shamming  dead,"  he  thought  to  himself, 
and  lifted  his  gun,  for  in  those  times  we  could  not  afford 
to  nurse  sick  Kaffirs. 

Then  of  a  sudden  the  young  man  who  had  seemed  to  be  a 
corpse  rose  to  his  knees,  and,  clasping  his  hands,  began  to 
beg  for  mercy.  Instead  of  shooting  him  at  once,  as  most 
Boers  would  have  done,  Ralph,  who  was  tender-hearted, 
hesitated  and  listened  while  the  Kaffir,  a  pleasant-faced 
lad  and  young,  besought  him  for  his  life. 

"  Why  should  I  spare  you,"  asked  Ralph,  who  imder- 
stood  his  talk  well,  "  seeing  that,  like  all  the  rest  of  these, 
you  set  upon  my  people  to  murder  them  ?  " 

"  Nay,  chief,"  answered  the  young  man,  "  it  is  not  so. 
I  am  no  Zulu.  I  belong  to  another  tribe,  and  was  but  a 
slave  and  a  carrier  in  the  army  of  Kalipi,  for  I  was  taken 
prisoner  and  forced  to  carry  mats  and  food  and  water," 
and  he  pointed  to  a  bundle  and  some  gourds  that  lay  beside 
him. 

"  It  may  be  so,"  answered  Ralph,  "  but  the  dog  shares 
his  master's  fate." 

"  Chief,"  pleaded  the  man,   "  spare  me.     Although  it 


JIOW  GAASHA  BROUGHT  GOOD  LUCK  245 

prevented  me  from  running  away  with  the  others,  my 
wound  is  very  slight  and  will  be  healed  in  a  day  or  two, 
and  then  I  will  serve  you  as  your  slave  and  be  faithful  to  you 
all  my  life.  Spare  me  and  I  shall  bring  you  good  luck." 

"  I  need  that  enough,"  said  Ralph,  "  and  I  am  sure  that 
you  are  no  Zulu,  for  a  Zulu  would  not  stoop  to  beg  for  his 
life  thus,"  and  he  stood  thinking. 

While  he  thought,  Jan,  who  had  seen  him  from  the 
laager,  came  up  behind. 

"  What  are  you  doing,  son,"  he  asked  in  an  angry  voice, 
"  talking  to  this  black  devil  here  alone  among  the  dead  ? 
Stand  aside  and  let  me  settle  him  if  you  have  not  the 
heart,"  and  he  lifted  his  gun. 

"  No,  father,"  said  Ralph,  pushing  it  aside,  "  this  man  is 
not  a  Zulu;  he  is  but  a  slave-carrier  and  he  has  prayed  me 
to  spare  his  life,  swearing  that  he  will  serve  me  faithfully. 
Also  he  says  that  he  brings  good  luck." 

"  Certainly  he  brought  good  luck  to  these,"  answered 
Jan,  pointing  to  the  scattered  dead  with  his  hand,  and 
laughing  grimly.  ,"  Allemachter!  son,  you  must  be  mad 
to  play  the  fool  thus,  for  doubtless  the  sneaking  villain 
will  murder  you  the  first  time  your  back  is  turned.  Come, 
stand  aside  and  I  will  finish  it." 

Now  the  young  man,  whose  name  was  Gaasha,  seeing 
that  he  was  about  to  be  shot,  threw  himself  upon  the 
ground,  and  clasping  Ralph  round  the  knees,  implored  for 
mercy. 

"Save  me.  Baas,"  he  prayed,  "save  me,  and  you  will 
always  be  glad  of  it,  for  I  tell  you  I  bring  you  good  luck, 
I  tell  you  I  bring  you  good  luck." 

"Father,"  said  Ralph,  setting  his  mouth,  "if  you  kill 
this  Kaffir  it  will  be  a  cause  of  quarrel  between  us,  and  we 
never  quarrelled  vet." 


246  SWALLOW 

"  Quarrel  or  no  quarrel,  he  shall  die,"  said  Jan  in  a 
rage,  for  he  thought  it  the  strangest  folly  that  Ealpli 
should  wish  to  spare  a  black  man. 

At  that  moment,  however,  something  seemed  to  strike 
his  mind,  for  his  face  grew  puzzled,  and  he  looked  about 
him  almost  anxiously. 

"  Where  have  I  seen  it  before  ?  "  he  said,  as  though  he 
were  speaking  to  himself.  "  The  veldt  all  red  with  blood 
and  sunset,  the  laager  behind  and  the  Kaffir  with  the 
wounded  foot  holding  Ealph  by  the  knees.  Allemachter! 
I  know.  It  was  that  day  in  the  sit-kammer  *  at  the  stead 
yonder,  when  the  little  doctoress,  Sihamba,  made  me  look 
into  her  eyes;  yes,  yes,  I  have  seen  it  all  in  the  eyes  of 
Sihamba.  Well,  let  the  lad  live,  for  without  a  doubt  Si- 
hamba  did  not  show  me  this  picture  that  should  be  for 
nothing.  Moreover,  although  I  am  stupid,  as  your  mother 
says,  I  have  learned  that  there  are  many  things  in  the 
world  which  we  cannot  understand  but  which  play  a  part 
in  our  lives  nevertheless." 

So  the  lad  Gaasha  was  brought  to  the  laager,  and  upon 
the  prayer  of  Jan  and  Ealph,  the  commandant  gave  him 
his  life,  ordering,  however,  that  he  should  sleep  outside 
the  waggons. 

"  Well,"  I  said  when  I  heard  the  tale,  "  one  thing  is, 
that  you  will  never  see  him  again,  for  he  will  be  off  during 
the  night  back  to  his  friends  the  Zulus."  But  I  was  wrong, 
for  next  morning  there  was  Gaasha,  and  there  he  remained 
even  after  his  foot  was  quite  well,  making  the  best  Kaffir 
servant  that  ever  I  had  to  do  with. 

After  that  day  we  saw  no  more  of  the  Zulus  at  Vetch kop, 
although  later  with  the  help  of  other  Boers  we  attacked 
them  twice,  killing  more  than  four  thousand  of  them,  and 
*  Sitting  room. 


HOW  GAASUA  BROUGHT  GOOD  LUCK  247 

capturing  six  thousand  head  of  cattle,  so  that  they  fled 
north  for  good  and  all,  and  founded  the  nation  of  the 
Matabele  far  away. 

But  oh!  our  fate  was  hard  there  at  Vetchkop;  never  have 
I  known  worse  days.  The  Zulus  had  taken  away  all  our 
cattle,  so  that  we  could  not  even  shift  the  waggons  from 
the  scene  of  the  fight,  but  must  camp  there  amidst  the 
vultures  and  the  mouldering  skeletons,  for  the  dead  were 
so  many  that  it  was  impossible  to  bury  them  all.  We  sent 
messengers  to  other  parties  of  Boers  for  help,  and  while 
they  were  gone  we  starved,  for  there  was  no  food  to  eat, 
and  game  was  very  scarce.  Yes,  it  was  a  piteous  sight  to 
see  the  children  cry  for  food  and  gnaw  old  bits  of  leather 
or  strips  of  hide  cut  from  Kaffir  shields  to  stay  the  craving 
of  their  stomachs.  Some  of  them  died  of  that  hunger, 
and  I  grew  so  thin  that  when  I  chanced  to  see  myself  in  a 
pool  of  water  Avhere  I  went  to  wash  I  started  back 
frightened. 

At  length,  when  we  were  all  nearly  dead,  some  oxen 
came  and  with  them  we  dragged  a  few  of  the  waggons  to 
Moroko,  where  an  English  clergyman  and  his  wife,  taking 
pity  on  us,  gave  us  corn,  for  which  reason  I  have  always 
held  that  among  the  British  the  clergymen  must  be  a  great 
deal  better  than  the  rest  of  that  proud  and  worthless  race, 
for  it  is  true  that  we  judge  of  people  as  they  deal  by  us. 
Yes,  and  I  will  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  I  do  not  believe 
that  the  Reverend  Mr.  Owen,  the  English  missionary  at  the 
kraal  of  the  Zulu  King  Dingaan,  did  in  truth  advise  him 
to  massacre  Retief  and  his  seventy  Boers,  as  was  generally 
reported  among  my  countrymen. 

Well,  after  Moselikatse's  Zulus  were  finally  defeated  the 
question  arose  whether  we  should  proceed  to  Zoutpansbcrg 
and  settle  there,  or  follow  our  brethren  who  in  large  nuiu- 


248  SWALLOW 

bers  had  already  crossed  the  Quathlamba  Mountains  into 
Natal  under  the  leadership  of  Eetief.  In  the  end  we  de- 
cided for  Natal  because  it  was  nearer  the  sea,,  for  in  those 
days  we  never  dreamed  that  the  treacherous  British  Gov- 
ernment would  steal  that  land  also;  so  trekking  slowly,  we 
headed  for  Van  Eeenen's  Pass,  our  party  then  numbering 
thirty  Avaggons  and  about  sixty  white  people. 

It  was  when  we  were  about  four  days  trek,  or  sixty  miles, 
from  the  pass  that  one  evening,  as  we  sat  eating  our  food, 
Jan,  Ealph,  and  I — I  remember  it  was  the  fried  steaks  of 
an  eland  that  Kalph  had  shot — the  lad  Gaasha,  who  had 
now  served  us  for  some  six  months,  came  up  to  the  fire,  and 
having  saluted  Ealph,  squatted  down  before  him  Kaffir 
fashion,  saying  that  he  had  a  favour  to  ask. 

"  Speak  on,"  said  Ealph.     "  What  is  it?  " 

"  Baas,"  replied  Gaasha,  "  it  is  this;  I  want  a  week  or  ten 
days  leave  of  absence  to  visit  my  people." 

"  You  mean  that  you  want  to  desert,"  I  put  in. 

"No,  lady,"  answered  Gaasha;  "you  know  that  I  love  the 
Baas  who  saved  my  life  far  too  well  ever  to  wish  to  leave 
him.  I  desire  only  to  see  my  parents  and  to  tell  them  that 
I  am  happy,  for  doubtless  they  think  me  dead.  The  Baas 
proposes  to  cross  into  Natal  by  Van  Eeenen's  Pass,  does 
he  not?  Well,  not  so  very  far  from  my  home,  although 
none  would  guess  it  unless  he  knew  the  way,  is  another  pass 
called  Oliver's  Hook,  and  by  that  pass,  after  I  have  spoken 
with  my  father  and  my  mother  if  they  still  live,  I  would 
cross  the  Quathlamba,  finding  the  Baas  again  on  the 
further  side  of  the  mountains,  as  I  can  easily  do." 

"  I  think  that  I  will  let  you  go  as  I  can  trust  you, 
Gaasha,"  said  Ealph,  "  but  tell  me  the  name  of  your  home, 
that  I  may  know  where  to  send  to  seek  you  if  you  should 
not  come  back  as  you  promise." 


HOW  GAASIIA   BROUGHT  GOOD  LUCK  249 

"  Have  I  not  said  that  I  will  come  back,  Baas,  unless 
the  lions  or  the  Zulus  should  eat  me  on  the  way?  But  the 
name  of  the  house  of  my  tribe  is  Umpondwaua.  It  is  only 
a  little  tribe,  for  the  Zulus  killed  many  of  us  in  the  time  of 
Chaka,  but  their  house  is  a  very  fine  house." 

"What  does  Umpondwana  mean?"  asked  Ealph  idly  as 
he  lit  his  pipe. 

"  It  means  the  Mountain  of  the  Man's  Hand,  Baas." 

Ralph  let  his  pipe  fall  on  the  ground,  and  I  saw  his  face 
turn  white  beneath  the  sunburn.,  while  of  a  sudden  his 
grey  eyes  looked  as  though  they  were  about  to  leap  from 
their  sockets. 

""Why  is  it  called  the  Mountain  of  the  Man's  Hand?" 
he  asked  in  a  hollow  voice.  "  Speak  quick  now,  and  do 
not  lie  to  me." 

Gaasha  looked  up  at  him  astonished.  "  How  should  I 
know,  Baas,  when  the  place  was  named  so  before  I  was 
born,  and  none  have  told  me?  But  I  think  that  it  may 
be  because  upon  one  of  the  slopes  of  the  mountain,  which 
has  great  cliffs  of  red  rock,  are  five  ridges,  which,  seen  from 
the  plain  below,  look  like  the  four  fingers  and  the  thumb 
of  a  man.  Also  the  place  has  another  name,  which  means 
'  where  the  water  springs  out  of  fhe  rock,'  because  from 
between  two  of  the  ridges,  those  that  are  like  the  thumb 
and  first  finger,  flows  a  stream  which  comes  from  the  heart 
of  the  mountain." 

"  On  which  side  of  the  mountain  arc  the  ridges  and  the 
stream?"  asked  Ralph  in  the  same  unnatural  voice. 

"  Baas,  when  the  sun  rises  it  strikes  on  them." 

Xow  Ralph  swung  to  and  fro  like  a  drunken  man,  and 
had  I  not  put  my  arm  about  him  I  believe  that  he  would 
have  fallen. 

"  It  is  the  mountain  of  my  vision,"  he  gasped. 


250  SWALLOW 

"  Be  not  foolish/'  I  answered,  for  I  feared  lest  when  he 
found  that  all  this  strange  resemblance  was  a  chance,  the 
bitterness  of  his  disappointment  might  overwhelm  him. 
"  Be  not  foolish,  son;  are  there  not  many  hills  in  this  great 
land  with  ridges  on  their  flanks,  and  streams  of  water 
running  down  them?  " 

Then,  as  Ealph  seemed  unable  to  answer  me,  I  asked  of 
Gaasha: 

"  Who  is  the  chief  of  this  tribe  of  yours  ?  " 

"  He  is  named  Koraanu,"  he  answered,  "  if  he  still  lives, 
but  a  man  I  met  some  months  ago  told  me  that  he  has  been 
dead  these  two  years,  and  that  she  who  used  to  rule  us 
when  I  was  a  little  child  had  come  back  from  the  lands 
whither  she  had  wandered,  and  is  now  Inkoosikaas  of  the 
Umpondwana." 

"  What  is  the  name  of  this  chief  tainess  ?  "  I  asked  in  the 
midst  of  a  great  silence. 

Gaasha  answered  at  once;  that  is,  after  he  had  taken  a 
pinch  of  snuff,  but  to  us  it  seemed  a  year  before  the  words 
crossed  his  lips. 

"  Her  name,  lady,"  and  he  sneezed,  "  is " — and  he 
sneezed  again,  rocking  himself  to  and  fro.  Then  slowly 
wiping  away  the  tears  which  the  snuff  had  brought  to  his 
eyes  with  the  back  of  his  hand  lies  aid,  "  Ow!  this  is  the 
best  of  snuff,  and  I  thank  the  Baas  for  giving  it  to  me." 

"  Answer,"  roared  Jan,  speaking  for  the  first  time,  and 
in  such  a  fierce  voice  that  Gaasha  sprang  to  his  feet  and 
began  to  run  away. 

"  Come  back,  Gaasha,  come  back,"  I  called,  and  he  came 
doubtfully,  for  Gaasha  was  not  very  brave,  and  ever  since 
he  had  wished  to  shoot  him  he  trembled  even  at  the  sight 
of  Jan.  "  Be  silent,  you  fool,"  I  whispered  to  the  latter 
as  the  lad  drew  near,  then  said  aloud,  "  Now,  Gaasha," 


HOW  GAASIIA  BROUGHT  GOOD  LUCK  251 

"  Lad}',"  he  answered,  "  it  is  indeed  as  I  have  told  you; 
the  Baas  gave  me  the  snuff  a  long  time  ago;  he  took  it  out 
of  the  ear-boxes  of  the  dead  men  at  Vetchkop.  He  gave  it 
to  me.  I  did  not  steal  it.  He  will  say  so  himself." 

"  Xever  mind  the  snuff,  Gaasha,"  I  said  in  a  voice  half- 
choked  with  doubt  and  anxiety,  for  the  sight  of  Ralph's 
piteous  face  and  the  strangeness  of  it  all  were  fast  over- 
whelming me,  "'  but  tell  us  what  is  the  name  of  this  chief- 
tainess  whom  you  have  heard  is  now  the  ruler  of  your 
tribe?  " 

"  Her  name,  lady,"  he  answered,  much  relieved,  "  why  it 
is  well  known,  for  though  she  is  small,  it  is  said  that  she  is 
the  best  of  doctoresses  and  rain-makers." 

Now  Jan  could  no  longer  be  restrained, for  stretching  out 
his  great  hand  he  gripped  Gaasha  by  the  throat,  saying: 

"  Accursed  sicartzel,  if  you  do  not  tell  us  the  name  at 
once  I  will  kill  you." 

"Madman,"  I  exclaimed,  "  how  can  the  lad  speak  while 
you  are  choking  him?  " 

Then  Jan  shifted  his  grip  and  ( J  aasha  begun  to  cry  for  pity. 

"  The  name,  the  name,"  said  .Jan. 

"Why  should  I  hide  it?  Have  1  not  told  it?  Baas,  it 
is  Sihamba  Ngenyanya." 

As  the  words  passed  his  lips  Jan  let  go  of  him  so  sud- 
denly that  Gaasha  fell  to  the  ground  and  sat  there  staring  at 
us,  for  without  doubt  he  thought  that  we  had  all  gone  mad. 

Jan  looked  up  to  the  skies  and  said,  "'  Almighty.  1  thank 
Thee,  Who  canst  make  dreams  to  fly  to  the  heart  of  a  man 
as  a  night-bird  to  its  nest  through  the  darkness, and  Who, be- 
cause of  what  1  saw  in  the  eyes  of  Sihamba,  didst  turn  aside 
my  gun  when  it  was  pointed  at  the  breast  of  this  Kaffir." 

Then  he  looked  at  Ralph,  and  was  quiet,  for  Ralph  had 
swooned  away. 


CHAPTEE    XXVII 

SWART  PIET  SETS  A  SNARE 

IT  was  a  strange  life  that  Suzanne  led  among  the  Um- 
pondwana  during  the  two  years  or  more  that,  together  with 
Sihamba,  she  ruled  over  them  as  chieftainess.  Upon  the 
top  of  the  mountain  was  a  space  of  grass  land  measuring 
about  five  hundred  morgen,  or  a  thousand  acres  in  extent, 
where  were  placed  the  chief's  huts  and  those  of  the  head 
men  and  soldiers,  surrounding  a  large  cattle  kraal,  which, 
however,  was  only  used  in  times  of  danger.  The  rest  of 
the  people  dwelt  upon  the  slopes  of  the  mountain,  and 
even  on  the  rich  plains  at  the  foot  of  it,  but  if  need  were 
they  could  all  retreat  to  the  table-land  upon  its  crest. 
Here  they  might  have  defied  attack  for  ever,  for  beneath 
the  cattle  kraal  grain  was  stored  in  pits,  only  there  was 
but  one  spring,  which  in  dry  seasons  was  apt  to  fail.  There- 
fore it  was  that  the  Umpondwana  had  built  stone  schanzes 
or  fortifications  about  the  mouth  of  the  river  which  gushed 
from  the  mountain  between  the  thumb  and  finger  like 
ridges  on  the  eastern  slope,  although  it  lay  belcw  their 
impregnable  walls  of  rock,  seeing  that  to  this  river  they 
must  look  for  their  main  supply  of  water. 

The  table-top  of  the  hill,  which  could  only  be  ap- 
proached by  one  path  that  wound  upwards  through  a 
ravine  cut  by  water,  being  swept  by  every  wind  of  heaven, 


SWART  PIET  SETS  A   SNARE  253 

and  so  high  in  the  air,  was  very  cold  and  naked.  Indeed, 
in  the  winter  season,  rain  fell  there  twice  or  thrice  a  week, 
and  there  were  many  days  when  it  was  wrapt  in  a  dense 
white  mist.  Still,  during  the  two  years  and  more  that  she 
dwelt  with  the  Umpondwana,  Suzanne  scarcely  left  this 
plain,  not  because  she  did  not  desire  to  do  so,  but  because 
she  did  not  dare,  for  word  was  brought  that  the  foot,  and 
even  the  slopes,  of  the  mountain  were  patrolled  by  men  in 
the  employ  of  Swart  Piet.  Moreover,  soon  it  became  clear 
that  he  had  knowledge  of  all  her  movements,  doubtless 
from  spies  in  his  pay  who  dwelt  among  the  Umpondwana 
themselves.  During  the  first  few  months  of  her  sojourn 
on  the  mountain.,  it  is  true  that  now  and  again  Suzanne 
rode  out  on  to  the  veldt  mounted  on  the  scliimmel,  but 
this  pastime  she  was  forced  to  abandon  because  one  day 
Swart  Piet  and  his  men  saw  her  and  gave  chase,  so  that 
she  was  only  saved  from  him  by  the  fleetness  of  the  great 
horse. 

After  this,  both  she  and  the  scliimmel  stayed  upon  the 
table-land,  where  daily  they  took  exercise  together,  gallop- 
ing round  a  prepared  path  which  was  laid  about  the  fence 
of  the  cattle  kraal,  and  thus  kept  themselves  in  good 
health. 

Swart  Piet  had  Kaffir  blood  in  his  veins,  as  I  have  said, 
and  from  boyhood  it  had  been  his  custom  to  live  two  lives, 
one  as  a  white  man  with  white  men,  and  one  as  a  Kaffir 
with  Kaffirs.  About  three  miles  distant  from  the  Um- 
pondwana Mountain  was  a  strong  koppie  with  fertile  valleys 
to  the  back  of  it,  and  here,  being  rich  and  having  a  great 
name  as  a  white  man,  he  found  it  no  trouble  to  establish 
himself  as  a  native  chief,  for  refugees  of  all  sorts  gathered 
themselves  about  him,  so  that  within  a  year  he  ruled  over 
a  little  tribe  of  about  a  hundred  men  together  with  women. 


!>54  SWALLOW 

With  these  men  Van  Vooren  began  to  harass  the  ITm- 
pondwana,  cutting  off  their  cattle  if  they  strayed,  and  from 
time  to  time  killing  or  enslaving  small  parties  of  them 
whom  he  caught  wandering  on  the  plains  out  of  reach 
of  help  from  the  mountain.  Whenever  he  captured  such 
a  party  he  would  spare  one  of  them.,  sending  him  back 
with  a  message  to  the  Umpondwana.  They  were  all  to  one 
effect,  namely,  that  if  the  tribe  would  deliver  over  to  him 
the  lady  Swallow  who  dwelt  among  them  he  would  cease 
from  troubling  it,  but  if  this  were  not  done,  then  he  would 
wage  war  on  it  day  and  night  until  in  this  way  or  in  that 
he  compassed  its  destruction. 

To  these  messages  Sihamba  would  reply  as  occasion 
offered,  that  if  he  wanted  anything  from  the  Umpondwana 
he  had  better  come  and  take  it. 

So  things  went  on  for  a  long  while.  Swart  Piet's  men  did 
them  no  great  harm  indeed, but  they  harassed  them  continu- 
ally, until  the  people  of  the  Umpondwana  began  to  mur- 
mur, for  they  could  scarcely  stir  beyond  the  slopes  of  the 
mountain  without  being  set  upon.  Happily  for  them  these 
slopes  were  wide,  for  otherwise  they  could  not  have  found 
pasturage  for  their  cattle  or  land  upon  which  to  grow  their 
corn.  So  close  a  watch  was  kept  upon  them,  indeed,  that 
they  could  neither  travel  to  visit  other  tribes,  nor  could 
these  come  to  them,  and  thus  it  came  about  that  Suzanne 
was  as  utterly  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  world  as  though 
she  had  been  dead.  She  had  but  one  hope  to  keep  her 
heart  alive,  and  it  was  that  Kalph  and  Jan  would  learn  of 
her  fate  through  native  rumours  and  be  able  to  find  her 
out.  Still,  as  she  knew  that  this  could  not  be  counted 
on,  she  tried  to  let  us  have  tidings  of  her,  for  when  she  had 
been  only  a  week  on  the  mountain  Umpondwana  she  de- 
spatched Zinti  and  two  men  to  bear  him  company,  with 


SWART  PIET  SETS  A  SNARE  255 

orders  to  travel  back  over  all  the  hundreds  of  miles  of 
veldt  to  the  far-off  stead  in  the  Transkei. 

As  she  had  neither  pen  nor  ink,  nor  anything  with 
which  she  could  write,  Suzanne  was  obliged  to  trust  a  long 
message  to  Zinti's  memory,  making  him  repeat  it  to  her 
until  she  was  sure  that  he  had  it  by  heart.  In  this  mes- 
sage she  told  all  that  had  befallen  her,  and  prayed  us  to 
take  Zinti  for  a  guide  and  to  come  to  her  rescue,  since 
she  did  not  dare  to  set  foot  outside  the  walls  of  rock,  for 
fear  that  she  should  be  captured  by  Van  Vooren,  who 
watched  for  her  continually. 

Zinti,  being  brave  and  faithful,  started  upon  his  errand, 
though  it  was  one  from  which  many  would  have  shrunk. 
But  as  ill-luck  would  have  it,  one  night  when  they  were 
camped  near  the  kraal  of  a  small  Basuto  tribe,  his  com- 
panions becoming  hungry,  stole  a  goat  and  killed  it.  Zinti 
ate  of  the  goat,  for  they  told  him  that  they  had  bought  it 
for  some  beads,  and  while  they  were  still  eating  the  Basutos 
came  upon  them  and  caught  them  red-handed.  Next  day 
they  were  tried  by  the  councillors  of  the  tribe  and  con- 
demned to  die  as  thieves,  but  the  chief,  who  wanted  serv- 
ants, spared  their  lives  and  set  them  to  labour  in  his 
gardens,  where  they  were  watched  day  and  night. 

Zinti  was  a  prisoner  among  these  Basutos  for  nearly  a 
year,  but  at  length  he  made  his  escape,  leaving  his  two 
companions  behind,  for  they  were  afraid  lest  if  they  ran 
away  with  him  they  should  be  recaptured  and  killed.  As 
soon  as  he  was  free  Zinti  continued  his  journey,  for  he  was 
a  man  not  easily  turned  from  his  purpose,  nor  because  it 
was  now  over  a  year  old  did  he  cease  from  his  attempt 
to  deliver  the  message  that  had  been  set  in  his  mouth. 

"Well,  after  many  dangers,  footsore  and  worn-out  with 
travelling,  at  length  he  reached  the  stead,  to  find  that  we 


256  SWALLOW 

had  all  gone,  none  knew  whither,,  and  that  the  long-nosed 
cheat  to  whom  we  had  sold  the  farm  ruled  in  our  place. 
Zinti  sought  out  some  Kaffirs  who  lived  upon  the  land, 
and  abode  with  them  awhile  till  he  was  rested  and  strong 
again.  Then  once  more  he  turned  his  face  northward 
towards  the  mountain  Umpondwana,  for  though  he  greatly 
feared  the  journey,  he  knew  that  the  heart  of  Suzanne 
would  be  sick  for  news.  War  raged  in  the  country  that 
he  must  pass,  and  food  was  scarce;  still  at  length  he  won 
through,  although  at  the  last  he  was  nearly  captured  by 
Black  Piet's'  thieves,  and  one  year  and  nine  months  after 
he  had  left  it,  a  worn  and  weary  figure,  he  limped  up  the 
red  rock  path  of  Umpondwana. 

Suzanne  had  been  watching  for  him.  It  seems  strange 
to  say  it,  but  after  six  months  had  gone  by,  which  time 
at  the  best  must  be  given  to  his  journey,  she  watched  for 
him  every  day.  On  the  top  of  the  highest  and  most 
precipitous  cliff  of  the  mountain  fortress  of  Umpondwana 
was  a  little  knoll  of  rock  curiously  hollowed  out  to  the 
shape  of  a  chair,  difficult  to  gain  and  dizzy  to  sit  in,  for 
beneath  it  was  a  sheer  fall  of  five  hundred  feet,  which 
chair-rock  commanded  the  plain  southward,  and  the  pass 
where  Van  Vooren  had  spoken  to  Suzanne  from  his  hiding- 
place  among  the  stones.  By  this  pass  and  across  this  plain 
help  must  reach  her  if  it  came  at  all,  or  so  she  thought; 
therefore  in  that  eagle's  eyrie  of  a  seat  Suzanne  sat  day  by 
day  watching  ever  for  those  who  did  not  come.  A  strange 
sight  she  must  have  been,  for  now  long  ago  such  garments 
as  she  had  were  worn  to  rags,  so  that  she  was  forced  to 
clothe  herself  in  beautiful  skins  fashioned  to  her  fancy, 
and  to  go  sandal-footed,  her  lovely  rippling  hair  hanging 
about  her. 

At  length  one  day  from  her  lonely  point  of  outlook  she 


SWART  PIET  SETS  A   SNARE  257 

saw  a  solitary  man  limping  across  the  plain,  a  mere  black 
speck  dragging  itself  forward  like  a  wounded  fly  upon  a 
wall.  Descending  from  her  seat  she  sought  out  Sihamba. 
•  u  Swallow/'  said  the  little  woman,  "  there  is  tidings  in 
your  eyes.  What  is  it?" 

"  Zinti  returns,"  she  answered,  "  I  have  seen  him  from 
far  away." 

Now  Sihamba  smiled,  for  she  thought  Zinti  lost;  also  she 
did  not  believe  it  possible  that  Suzanne  could  have  recog- 
nised him  from  such  a  distance.  Still  before  two  hours 
were  over  Zinti  came,  gaunt  and  footsore,  but  healthy  and 
unharmed,  and  sitting  down  before  Suzanne  in  her  private 
enclosure,  began  at  the  very  beginning  of  his  long  story, 
after  the  native  fashion,  telling  of  those  things  which  had 
befallen  him  upon  the  day  when  he  left  the  mountain 
nearly  two  years  before. 

"Your  news?     Your  news?"  said  Suzanne. 

"  Lady,  I  am  telling  it,"  he  answered. 

"  Fool!  "  exclaimed  Sihamba.  "  Say  now,  did  you  find 
the  Baas  Kcnzie  and  the  Baas  Botmar?" 

"  No,  indeed,"  he  replied,  "for  they  were  gone." 

"  Gone  where?     Were  they  alive  and  well?  " 

"  Yes,  yes,  they  were  alive  and  well,  but  all  the  Boers 
in  those  parts  have  trekked,  and  they  trekked  also,  be- 
lieving the  lady  Swallow  to  be  dead." 

"  This  is  a  bitter  cup  to  drink,"  murmured  Suzanne, 
"  yet  there  is  some  sweetness  in  it,  for  at  least  my  husband 
lives." 

Then  Zinti  set  out  all  his  story,  and  Suzanne  listened 
to  it  in  silence,  praising  him  much  and  thanking  him  when 
he  had  done.  But  after  that  day  Inn-  heart  failed  her,  and 
she  seemed  to  give  up  hope.  Ralph  had  vanished,  and  we, 
her  parents,  had  vanished,  and  she  was  left  alone  a  prisoner 
17 


258  SWALLOW 

among  a  little  Kaffir  tribe,  at  the  foot  of  whose  stronghold 
her  bitter  enemy  waited  to  destroy  her.  Never  was  white 
woman  in  a  more  dreadful  or  more  solitary  state,  and  had 
it  not  been  for  Sihamba's  tender  friendship  she  felt  that 
she  must  have  died. 

Now  also  Swart  Piet  grew  bolder,  appearing  even  on  the 
slopes  of  the  mountain  where  his  men  harried  and  stole. 
He  did  more  than  this  even,  for  one  morning  just  before 
dawn  he  attacked  the  pass  leading  to  the  stronghold  so 
secretly  and  with  such  skill  that  his  force  was  halfway  up 
it  before  the  sentries  discovered  them.  Then  they  were 
seen,  and  the  war-horns  blew,  and  there  followed  a  great 
fight.  Indeed,  had  it  not  been  for  a  lucky  chance,  it  is 
doubtful  how  that  fight  would  have  ended,  for  his  on- 
slaught was  fierce,  and  the  Umpondwana,  who  at  the  best 
were  not  the  bravest  of  warriors,  were  taken  by  surprise. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Zinti  had  brought  Ealph's 
gun  with  him  when  first  they  fled  north,  and  this  gun  he 
still  had,  together  with  a  little  powder  and  ball,  for,  fearing 
lest  it  should  be  stolen  from  him,  he  had  not  taken  it  on 
his  great  journey  to  the  Transkei  and  back.  Now,  hearing 
the  tumult,  he  ran  out  with  it,  and  fired  point  blank  at  the 
stormers,  who  were  pushing  their  way  up  the  narrow  path, 
driving  the  Umpondwana  before  them.  The  roer  was 
loaded  with  slugs,  which,  scattering,  killed  three  men; 
moreover,  by  good  fortune,  one  of  the  slugs  struck  Van 
Vooren  himself  through  the  fleshy  part  of  the  thigh,  caus- 
ing him  to  fall,  whereon,  thinking  him  mortally  wounded, 
in .  spite  of  his  curses  and  commands,  his  followers  lost 
heart  and  fled,  bearing  him  with  them.  Sihamba  called 
upon  her  people  to  follow,  but  they  would  not,  for  they 
feared  to  meet  Swart  Piet  in  the  open. 

In  truth  they  began  to  weary  of  this  constant  war,  which 


SWART  PIET  SETS  A   SNARE  259 

was  brought  upon  them  through  no  fault  or  quarrel  of 
their  own,  and  to  ask  where  was  that  good  luck  which  the 
White  Swallow  had  promised  them.  Had  it  not  been 
that  they  loved  Suzanne  for  her  beauty  and  her  gentle 
ways,  and  that  Sihamba',  by  her  cleverness  and  good  rule, 
had  mastered  their  minds,  there  is  little  doubt  indeed  but 
that  they  would  have  asked  Suzanne  to  depart  from  among 
them. 

On  the  day  following  the  attack  Sihamba  learned  that 
Swart  Piet  lay  very  sick,  having  lost  much  blood,  and 
sought  to  persuade  her  people  to  attack  him  in  turn,  and 
make  an  end  of  him  and  his  robbers.  But  they  would 
not,  and  so  the  council  broke  up,  but  not  before  Sihamba 
had  spoken  bitter  words,  telling  them  that  they  were 
cowards,  and  would  meet  the  end  of  cowards,  whereat  they 
'went  away  sullenly.  Afterwards  they  learned  through 
their  spies  that  Van  Vooren  had  gone  to  Zululand  to  visit 
the  King  Dingaan,  which  Sihamba  thought  evil  tidings, 
for  she  scented  fresh  danger  in  this  journey,  and  not  with- 
out reason.  But  to  Suzanne  she  said  nothing. 

Two  more  months  went  by  peacefully,  when  one  morn- 
ing a  herd  who  was  tending  the  cattle  that  belonged  to 
Suzanne  and  Sihamba,  sought  audience  of  the  chieftuin- 
ess. 

"  What  is  it?  "  asked  Sihamba,  for  she  saw  by  the  man's 
face  that  something  strange  had  happened. 

"  This,  lady,"  he  answered.  "  When  I  went  down  to 
the  kloof  at  dawn,  where  your  cattle  and  those  of  the  Lady 
Swallow  are  kraaled,  I  found  among  them  strange  oxen 
to  the  number  of  more  than  a  hundred.  They  are  beauti- 
ful oxen,  such  as  I  have  never  seen,  for  every  one  of  them 
is  pure  white — white  from  the  muzzle  to  the  tail,  and  I 
cannot  understand  how  they  came  among  your  cattle,  for 


260  SWALLOW 

the  mouth,  of  the  kraal  was  closed  as  usual  last  night;  more- 
over, I  found  it  closed  this  morning." 

When  Sihamba  heard  this  she  turned  cold  to  the  heart, 
for  she  knew  well  that  these  spotless  white  cattle  must 
come  from  the  royal  herd  of  Dingaan,  king  of  the  Zulus, 
since  none  other  were  known  like  them  in  all  the  land. 
Also  she  was  sure  that  Swart  Piet  had  stolen  them  and 
placed  them  among  her  cattle  so  as  to  bring  down  upon  her 
and  her  tribe  the  terrible  wrath  of  Dingaan,  for  she  re- 
membered that  this  mingling  of  cattle  was  a  trick  which 
he  had  played  before.  But  to  the  herd  she  said  only  that 
doubtless  they  were  cattle  which  had  strayed,  and  that  she 
would  make  enquiry  as  to  their  owner.  Then  she  dis- 
missed him,  bidding  him  to  keep  a  better  watch  in  future. 

Scarcely  had  he  gone  when  another  man  appeared  say- 
ing that  he  had  met  a  Kaffir  from  beyond  the  mountains, 
who  told  him  that  a  party  of  white  men  with  women  and 
children  had  crossed  the  Quathlamba  range  by  what  is  now 
known  as  Bezuidenhout's  Pass,  and  were  camped  near  the 
Tugela  Eiver.  This  was  strange  news  to  Sihamba,  who 
had  heard  nothing  of  the  whereabouts  of  the  Trek  Boers, 
so  strange  that  she  would  not  speak  of  it  to  Suzanne,  fear- 
ing lest  it  should  fill  her  with  false  hopes.  But  she  sent 
for  Zinti,  and  bade  him  cross  the  Quathlamba  by  a  little- 
used  pass  that  was  known  to  her  near  to  the  place  where 
the  Tugela  takes  its  rise,  and  which  to-day  is  called  Mont 
aux  Sources,  and  following  the  river  down,  to  find  out 
whether  or  no  it  was  true  that  white  men  were  encamped 
upon  its  banks.  When  he  had  done  this  he  was  to  return 
as  swiftly  as  possible  with  whatever  information  he  could 
gather. 

This  task  Zinti  undertook  gladly,  for  he  loved  following 
a  spoor,  which  was  a  gift  that  Mature  had  given  him;  also 


SWART  PIET  SETS  A   SNARE  261 

he  was  weary  of  being  cooped  up  like  a  fatting  fowl  upon 
the  mountain  Umpondwana. 

When  Zinti  had  gone  Sihamba  summoned  other  messen- 
gers, and  commanded  them  to  travel  swiftly  to  the  kraal 
Umgungundlhovo,  bearing  her  homage  to  Dingaan,  king 
of  the  Amazulus,  and  asking  whether  he  had  lost  any  of  the 
cattle  from  his  royal  herds,  since  certain  white  oxen  had 
been  found  among  her  beasts,  though  how  they  came  there 
she  could  not  tell.  These  men  went  also,  though  in  fear 
and  trembling,  since  in  those  days  none  loved  to  approach 
the  Lion  of  the  Zulu  with  tales  of  cattle  of  his  that  had 
strayed  among  their  herd.  Still  they  went,  and  with  doubt 
in  her  heart  Sihamba  sat  awaiting  their  return. 


CHAPTEB    XXVIII 

THE    COMING    OF   THE    IMPI 

SIHAMBA  had  not  very  long  to  wait,  for  on  the  evening 
of  the  fifth  day  from  the  starting  of  the  messengers  they 
came  back  at  great  speed,  having  run  so  fast  that  they 
could  scarcely  speak  for  want  of  breath,  and  telling  her 
that  a  Zulu  impi,  numbering  more  than  three  thousand 
spears,  was  advancing  upon  the  Umpondwana  to  destroy 
them.  It  seemed  that  long  before  the  king's  oxen  had 
been  found  mixed  with  her  herd  it  had  been  reported  to 
Dingaan  that  Sihamba  had  stolen  them,  which  was  not 
altogether  strange,  seeing  that  Swart  Piet  travelled  with 
the  impi.  As  she  suspected,  he  had  caused  the  oxen  to  be 
stolen,  and  now  he  had  fixed  the  deed  upon  her,  knowing 
well  that  Dingaan  only  sought  a  pretext  to  destroy  her 
tribe,  with  which  the  Zulus  had  an  ancient  quarrel. 

Now  there  was  but  one  thing  to  be  done — to  make  ready 
their  defence,  so,  without  more  ado,  Sihamba  summoned 
her  council  and  told  them  that  a  Zulu  impi  was  at  hand 
to  eat  them  up  because  of  the  white  cattle  that  had  been 
placed  among  their  herds.  Then  the  councillors  wrung 
their  hands,  and  some  of  them  shed  tears  even,  although 
they  were  aged  men,  for  the  name  of  the  Zulus  struck 
terror  to  their  hearts,  and  they  expected  nothing  less  than 
death  for  themselves,  their  wives,  and  their  children. 


THE  COMING   OF   THE  IMPI  263 

"  It  is  best  that  we  should  fly  while  there  is  yet  time," 
said  the  captain  of  the  council. 

"  There  is  no  time/'  answered  Sihamba;  "  the  impi  will 
be  here  by  dawn  and  will  cut  you  up  upon  the  plain." 

"What  then  shall  we  do?"  they  asked;  "we  who  are 
already  dead." 

"Do?"  she  cried.  "You  shall  fight  as  your  fathers 
fought  before  you,  and  beat  back  these  dogs  of  Dingaan. 
If  you  will  but  be  brave,  what  have  you  to  fear  from  them? 
You  have  water,  you  have  food,  you  have  spears,  and  even 
the  Zulus  have  not  wings  like  eagles  with  which  to  fly  over 
your  walls  of  cliff.  Let  them  come,  and  if  you  will  but 
obey  me,  I  promise  you  that  they  shall  return  again  to 
make  report  to  the  '  Elephant '  many  fewer  than  they  left 
his  kraal." 

So  the  Umpondwana  made  ready  to  fight,  not  because 
they  loved  it,  but  because  they  must,  for  they  knew  that  no 
humbleness  would  help  them  in  face  of  the  spears  of  Din- 
gaan. The  cattle  were  driven  into  the  centre  kraal,  and 
great  supplies  of  grass  and  green  corn  were  cut  to  feed 
them.  Except  for  one  manhole  the  pass  leading  to  the 
top  of  the  mountain  was  closed,  and  the  schanzes,  or  walls, 
which  protected  the  mouth  of  the  river  that  welled  from 
the  hillside  between  the  eastern  ridges  were  strengthened 
and  garrisoned.  Here,  as  Sihamba  knew,  was  their  weak 
place,  for  this  river  flowed  out  beneath  the  impregnable 
precipices  of  rock,  and  to  it  they  must  look  for  their  main 
supply  of  water,  since,  although  the  spring  upon  the  table- 
land, if  husbanded,  would  suffice  for  a  supply  to  the  tribe, 
it  was  not  sufficient  for  the  cattle.  It  was  for  this  reason 
that  Sihamba  wished  to  turn  the  kine  loose  and  let  the 
Zulus  capture  them  if  they  would,  for  she  knew  that  then 
they  could  never  take  the  mountain  or  harm  a  hair  of  the 


264  SWALLOW 

head  of  one  of  its  inhabitants.  But  the  Umpondwana 
were  greedy,  and  would  not  consent  to  the  loss  of  their 
cattle,  forgetting  that  cattle  are  of  no  value  to  dead  men. 
They  said  that  they  could  very  well  defend  the  schanzes 
which  surrounded  the  source  of  the  river,  and  that  from  it 
sufficient  water  could  be  carried  to  keep  the  beasts  alive, 
even  if  the  siege  were  long. 

"  As  you  will,"  answered  Sihamba  shortly,  "  but  see  that 
you  do  defend  them  when  the  Zulu  warriors  leap  upon  the 
walls,  for  if  you  fail  then  you  will  lose  cattle  and  life 
together." 

All  this  time,  according  to  her  daily  custom,  Suzanne 
had  been  seated  in  her  chair  of  rock  upon  the  highest 
point  of  the  precipice  looking  for  that  help  which  never 
came.  Presently,  as  she  watched  with  sad  eyes,  far  away 
upon  the  plain  she  saw  a  cloud  of  dust  in  which  moved  and 
shone  the  sheen  of  spears.  Now  she  climbed  down  from 
her  seat,  and  ran  to  seek  Sihamba,  whom  she  found  sur- 
rounded by  her  councillors. 

"What  is  it,  Swallow?"  asked  the  little  chief tainess 
looking  up,  though  already  she  had  guessed  the  answer. 

Suzanne  told  her,  adding,  "  Who  can  it  be  that  travels 
towards  the  mountain  with  so  great  a  force?  " 

"  Lady  Swallow,"  said  Sihamba  gravely,  "  it  is  an  army 
of  the  Zulus  sent  by  Dingaan  to  destroy  us,  and  with  them 
marches  Bull-Head."  And  she  told  her  of  the  trick  of  the 
cattle  and  of  what  the  messengers  had  seen. 

Suzanne  heard,  and  her  face  grew  white  as  the  goatskin 
cloak  she  wore. 

"  Then  at  last  the  long  story  is  at  an  end,"  she  faltered, 
for  she  knew  the  terrible  prowess  of  the  Zulus,  and  how 
none  could  stand  before  their  onslaught. 

"  Yes,  of  that  impi  there  is  an  end,"  answered  Sihamba 


THE  COMING   OF   THE  IMPI  265 

proudly,  "  if  these  children  of  mine  will  but  take  heart  and 
fight  as  their  fathers  fought.  Fear  not,  Lady  Swallow, 
nothing  that  has  not  wings  can  storm  the  mountain  of 
Umpondwana." 

But  for  all  that  she  could  say  Suzanne  still  felt  much 
afraid,  which  was  not  strange,  for  she  knew  that  the  heart 
was  out  of  these  soldiers  of  Sihamba,  and  knew,  moreover, 
that  a  Zulu  army  did  not  dare  to  be  defeated,  for  which 
reason  it  must  either  take  the  mountain  or  fight  till  it  was 
destroyed. 

Now  all  was  confusion;  the  horns  blew  and  women 
wailed,  while  the  captains  of  the  Umpondwana  issued  their 
commands,  and  the  men  piled  up  stones  upon  the  brink 
of  the  precipice  to  roll  down  upon  the  foe,  and  drove 
the  herds  of  cattle  into  the  great  kraal  upon  the  table- 
land. 

Marching  quickly,  the  impi  drew  near  and  the  defenders 
could  see  that  it  numbered  about  four  thousand  spears  and 
was  composed  of  two  separate  regiments.  At  a  distance  of 
a  mile  it  halted  and  throwing  out  horns  or  wings  sur- 
rounded the  mountain,  up  the  slopes  of  which  it  advanced 
in  a  thin  circle,  much  as  beaters  do  who  are  driving  game 
to  a  certain  point.  As  the  circle  drew  near  to  the  cliffs  it 
thickened,  having  less  ground  to  cover,  though  still  there 
was  a  gap  here  and  there. 

Presently  those  who  were  watching  saw  a  man  dart 
through  one  of  these  gaps  and  run  up  hill  at  great  speed, 
followed  by  Zulu  soldiers,  who  tried  to  kill  him.  But  he 
was  the  swifter  of  foot,  moreover  he  knew  the  path,  so 
that  before  they  could  come  up  with  him  he  reached  the 
great  stone  walls  which  were  built  about  the  source  of  the 
river,  and  was  dragged  over  them  by  the  defender?. 

A  while  later  this  man  appeared  upon  the  top  of  the 


266  SWALLOW 

mountain  and  proved  to  be  none  other  than  Zinti,  who 
had  returned  from  his  errand,  and,  having  news  to  tell, 
risked  his  life  to  pass  through  the  impi  before  the  strong- 
hold was  altogether  surrounded.  Sihainba  received  him  at 
once,  Suzanne  standing  at  her  side,  and  bade  him  be  brief 
for  she  had  little  time  to  listen  to  long  stories. 

"  I  will  be  brief,"  Zinti  answered.  "  Lady,  as  you  bade 
me  I  crossed  the  mountains  by  the  road  of  which  you  told 
me.  It  is  a  good  road  for  men  on  foot  or  horseback,  but 
waggons  could  not  travel  it.  Having  reached  the  plain 
on  the  further  side  I  followed  the  bank  of  the  river,  till 
suddenly  I  came  in  sight  of  thirty  waggons  drawn  up  in  a 
laager  upon  a  knoll  of  ground,  and  among  the  waggons  I 
saw  Boers  with  their  wives  and  children.  I  tried  to  go  up 
to  speak  to  them,  but  a  young  Boer,  seeing  me,  shot  at  me 
with  his  gun,  so  I  thought  it  safer  to  lie  hid.  At  night- 
fall, however,  I  met  the  driver  of  one  of  the  waggons,  a 
Kaffir  man,  at  some  distance  from  the  laager,  where  he 
was  watching  by  a  pit  made  to  catch  bucks,  and  fell  into 
talk  with  him.  He  told  me  that  this  was  a  party  of  the 
Boers  who  had  trekked  from  Cape  Colony,  and  were  taking- 
possession  of  Natal,  and  that  there  were  other  such  parties 
scattered  about  the  country.  He  said  that  in  this  party 
there  were  five-and-twenty  men  with  women  and  children, 
but  he  did  not  know  the  names  of  any  of  them.  Also  he 
told  me  that  he  meant  to  run  away,  as -he  heard  that 
Dingaan  was  going  to  attack  the  white  people,  and  was  sure 
that  if  he  did  so  they  would  be  eaten  up,  for  these  Boers, 
thinking  themselves  quite  safe,  had  grown  very  careless, 
and  neither  made  their  laager  as  strong  as  it  should  be 
nor  set  any  watch  at  night.  Having  learned  this  I  re- 
turned at  once  to  make  report  to  you,  nor  did  I  come  too 
quickly,  for  the  Zulus  nearly  caught  me  as  I  passed  their 


THE   COMING   OF   THE  IMPI  267 

ranks.  I  saw  Bull-Head  as  I  ran;  he  is  riding  a  brown 
horse,  and  seems  quite  recovered  from  his  wound." 

"  How  far  is  the  Boer  laager  from  this  place  ?  "  asked 
Sihamba  before  Suzanne  could  speak. 

"  Lady,  a  man  on  a  good  horse  could  reach  it  in  seven 
hours,  nor  is  it  possible  to  mistake  the  way.  After  cross- 
ing the  plain  you  enter  the  gorge  by  the  saw-edged  rock 
yonder,  and  follow  its  windings  across  the  mountains  till 
you  come  out  the  other  side,  where  the  river  runs  down  to 
the  flat  country.  Then  you  can  keep  along  the  bank  of 
the  river  as  I  did  when  I  went,  or  if  you  wish  to  go  more 
quickly  you  must  head  for  a  large  white-topped  hill,  or 
koppie,  which  can  be  seen  from  the  mountains,  and  when 
you  come  to  it  you  will  find  the  Boer  laager  upon  the  knoll 
at  its  foot,  but  near  to  the  banks  of  the  river,  which  winds 
round  it." 

"  Oh!  let  us  go;  let  us  go  quickly,"  said  Suzanne  spring- 
ing to  her  feet,  for  the  thought  even  of  seeing  a  white  man 
again  made  her  drunk  with  hope. 

"Alas!  sister,"  answered  Sihamba  sadly,  "an  hour  ago 
we  might  have  gone,  or  rather  you  might  have  gone, 
mounted  on  the  great  scliimmel,  but  now — look,"  and  she 
pointed  to  where  the  Zulus  clustered  like  bees  along  the 
banks  of  the  river  by  which  the  path  ran.  "  See,"  she 
added,  "  there  is  but  one  road  out  of  this  stronghold,  for 
nowhere  else  can  the  surest-footed  climber  in  the  world 
descend  its  cliffs,  no,  not  with  a  rope  to  help  him,  and 
that  road  is  thick  with  Zulu  spears;  moreover,  a  certain 
man  whom  you  do  not  wish  to  see  waits  for  you  upon 
it." 

Suzanne  looked.  "Too  late,"  she  moaned.  "Oh! 
surely  my  God  has  forsaken  me!  Within  six  hours  of 
safety  and  doomed  to  perish  here;  oh!  surely  my  God  has 


268  SWALLOW 

forsaken  me!  "  and  she  burst  out  weeping  in  the  bitterness 
of  her  disappointed  hope. 

"  Say  not  so/'  answered  Sihamba  gently,  "  for  I  think 
that  the  Great  One  whom  you  worship  will  save  you  yet." 

As  she  spoke  a  messenger  arrived  saying  that  the  Zulus 
had  sent  forward  heralds  who  desired  to  speak  with  her, 
and  that  these  heralds  waited  within  earshot  of  the  first 
wall. 

"  I  will  come,"  said  Sihamba,  and  she  passed  down  the 
cleft  and  through  the  man  hole  into  the  fortifications 
which  were  built  about  the  source  of  the  river.  But  she 
would  not  allow  Suzanne  to  accompany  her. 

When  she  reached  the  outer  wall  she  climbed  it  and 
stood  upon  it,  for  Sihamba  was  a  woman  who  knew  no  fear, 
and  there,  about  forty  paces  away,  she  saw  three  great 
Zulus  standing,  and  with  them  him  whom  she  dreaded 
more  than  all  the  Zulus  on  the  earth — Piet  Van  Vooren  him- 
self. When  the  Zulu  captains  caught  sight  of  her  upon 
the  wall,  they  jeered  aloud  and  asked  whether  this  was  in- 
deed Sihamba  Ngenyanga,  or  if  a  she-monkey  had  been 
sent  to  talk  with  them. 

"  I  am  Sibamba,"  she  answered  quietly,  "  or  I  am  a 
monkey,  as  it  may  please  you,  though  the  white  man  with 
you  can  tell  you  what  I  am." 

"  I  can,"  said  Piet  with  a  laugh.  "  You  are  a  witch  and 
a  thief,  and  the  fate  that  I  promised  you  long  ago  is  with 
you  at  last." 

"  Murderer,"  mocked  Sihamba  in  answer,  "  I  see  Death 
standing  behind  you,  and  with  him  shadows  of  the  Fear  to 
come.  But  I  would  speak  with  these  chiefs  and  not  with 
an  outcast  half-breed.  Tell  me,  chiefs,  why  do  you  come 
up  against  my  stronghold  with  so  great  a  force?  " 

"  Because  that  '  Elephant  whose  tread  shakes  the  earth,' 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  IMPI  269 

our  master,  Dingaan  the  king,  has  sent  us/'  answered  the 
spokesman  of  the  captains. 

"  Say,  now,  on  what  errand,  chief?  " 

"  On  this  errand;  to  take  your  stronghold  and  cattle,  to 
burn  your  kraal,  and  to  kill  your  people,  all  of  them  save 
the  marriageable  girls  and  such  children  as  are  old  enough 
to  travel,  who  must  be  brought  with  the  cattle  to  Dingaan. 
But  you  yourself  and  the  white  woman  who  is  called  Swal- 
low who  rules  with  you  are  to  be  handed  over  to  Bull-Head 
here  to  do  with  as  he  will,  for  that  is  the  bargain  between 
him  and  the  king." 

"  And  why  are  these  things  to  come  upon  us  who  have 
done  no  wrong?  "  asked  Sihamba. 

"  Why,  little  woman!  "  answered  the  chief,  "  because  you 
have  dared  to  steal  cattle  from  the  king's  herd,  even  the 
royal  white  cattle;  yes,  and  they  have  been  traced  to  your 
mountain  and  seen  among  your  oxen." 

"  It  is  true  that  the  cattle  are  here,"  said  Sihamba,  "  but 
it  is  not  true  that  we  have  stolen  them,  seeing  that  they 
were  lifted  by  the  white  man,  Bull-Head,  and  mixed  up 
with  our  herds  to  bring  us  into  trouble  with  the  king." 

"  A  fit  tale  for  the  king's  ears,"  replied  the  captain, 
laughing.  "  Why  it  was  Bull-Head  who  told  the  king 
of  the  theft;  but  let  that  pass.  Dingaan  the  king  is  merci- 
ful, and  he  makes  you  this  offer  through  my  mouth:  If 
you  Avill  return  the  cattle  together  with  all  your  own  by 
way  of  fine,  and  hand  over  your  councillors  and  head  men 
to  be  killed,  then  he  will  grant  the  rest  their  lives.  But 
all  the  young  men  and  the  girls  must  come  with  me  to  pass 
into  the  service  of  the  king,  the  married  women  and  the 
children  going  where  they  will.  Perhaps  Bull-Head  here 
will  take  them  with  yourself  and  White  Swallow.  What  is 
your  word,  little  chief tainess  ?" 


270  SWALLOW 

"  My  word  is  that  we  will  have  none  of  such  mercy.  It 
is  better  that  we  should  die  together,  but  I  tell  you,  men  of 
Dingaan,  that  these  rocks  will  be  white  with  your  bones 
before  ever  you  drive  our  cattle  and  maidens  back  to 
Dingaan." 

"  As  you  will,  little  chieftainess.  We  captains  of  the 
Zulus  have  heard  many  such  proud  words  in  our  time,  but 
ah!  where  are  those  who  spoke  them?  Ask  the  jackals  and 
the  vultures,  little  chieftainess." 


CHAPTER   XXIX 

THIEST 

WHEN  Sihamba  finished  her  talk  with  the  captains  of 
Dingaan  the  sun  was  already  sinking.  Still  the  Umpond- 
wana  thought  that  the  Zulus  would  attack  at  once,  hut 
these  shouted  to  the  defenders  that  they  might  rest  easily 
till  the  dawn,,  since  they  wished  to  have  daylight  by  which 
to  divide  the  spoil.  And  at  daylight  the  attack  came. 
Driving  the  men  of  Bull-Head  in  front  of  them  much 
against  their  will,  for  they  knew  these  to  be  cowards,  and 
wished  to  make  mock  of  them,  company  by  company  the 
Zulus  rushed  at  the  stone  wall,  though  many  of  them  were 
killed  and  often  they  were  driven  back.  But  always  they 
came  on  laughing  and  shouting  their  war-cry  till  the  arms 
of  the  Umpondwana  grew  weary  with  stabbing  at  them  as 
their  plumed  heads  appeared  above  the  level  of  the  wall. 
Still,  fighting  under  the  eye  of  Sihamba,  whose  bitter 
tongue  they  feared,  her  people  held  their  own.  for  indeed 
the  place  was  almost  impregnable  to  the  attacks  of  men 
armed  only  with  spears  however  brave  they  might  be.  and 
had  it  been  defended  by  warriors  of  true  Zulu  blood  it 
could  never  have  been  taken. 

When  the  fight  had  raged  for  an  hour  or  more  the  Zulu 
captains  withdrew  their  men.  and  went  apart  to  consult 
with  Van  Vooren,  for  their  loss  was  heavy,  and  they  saw 


272  SWALLOW 

that  if  they  were  to  capture  the  head  waters  of  the  river 
they  must  seek  some  other  plan.  Very  soon  they  found  it. 
The  river  issued  from  the  side  of  the  mountain  not  as  a 
little  stream  but  as  a  broad  fierce  water.  So  deep  and 
rapid  was  it  that  the  triple  line  of  defence  works  of  the 
Umpondwana  were  built  only  to  its  edge,  for  the  water 
ran  through  a  rocky  gorge,  although  thorn  trees  fastened 
by  their  trunks  were  thrust  out  for  ten  or  twelve  feet  over 
the  banks  of  the  gorge  from  either  side  of  the  stream. 
Now,  in  the  centre  of  this  river,  which  may  have  been 
thirty  paces  wide,  ran  a  long  ridge  or  saddle  of  rock  over 
which  the  water  boiled  furiously,  although  here  it  was  not 
more  than  three  feet  deep.  This  ridge  began  at  a  point 
within  the  last  line  of  walls  and  ran  down  to  some  five-and- 
twenty  paces  below  the  first  wall.  Swart  Piet  had  noted 
the  ridge. 

"  There  is  a  saddle  on  which  you  may  ride  to  victory," 
he  said. 

"How  so,  Bull-Head?"  asked  the  captain. 

"  Thus.  Yonder  stand  trees  with  tall  stems  and  green 
tops;  cut  them  down  and  make  a  bridge  from  the  bank  to 
the  saddle;  then  wade  up  the  saddle  where  the  water  is  not 
more  than  waist  deep,  till  you  are  past  the  third  wall  and 
reach  the  bank  inside  it  as  best  you  can." 

Now  although  he  was  a  brave  man,  as  were  all  the  Zulus 
in  those  days,  the  captain  looked  long  and  doubtfully  at 
the  white  water  which  foamed  upon  the  ridge. 

"  There  is  death  in  that  water,"  he  said. 

"  Death  for  some  and  victory  for  others,"  answered  Van 
Vooren,  "  but  if  you  fear  it,  go  back  to  Dingaan  and  tell 
him  so,  for  in  no  other  way  can  this  mountain  be  taken, 
seeing  that  it  is  impregnable,  and  that  thirst  alone  can  con- 
quer it." 


THIRST  273 

"  I  fear  nothing,  white  man,"  answered  the  Zulu,  "  but 
if  you  are  so  brave,  why,  show  us  black  people  the  way 
along  yonder  ridge! " 

Piet  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "  I  wish  to  keep  alive  for 
reasons  of  my  own;  besides,  I  am  not  a  soldier  of  Dingaan," 
he  answered. 

Then  the  captain  turned  and  commanded  such  men  as 
had  battle  axes  to  cut  down  three  of  the  longest  trees, 
which  they  did,  although  the  task  was  difficult,  for  the 
wood  was  hard  and  their  axes  were  light.  When  at  length 
the  trees  were  down  they  rolled  them  uphill  to  a  spot  where 
the  ridge  of  rock  ended,  which  was  not  more  than  thirty 
paces  from  the  face  of  the  outer  wall.  Now  it  was  that 
Sihamba  guessed  their  purpose  for  the  first  time,  for  until 
then  she  had  believed  that  they  were  cutting  the  trees  to 
use  them  as  battering  rams  against  the  walls. 

"  They  are  coming  on  us  by  the  path  of  the  river,"  she 
said,  and  called  for  men  to  sally  out  and  prevent  them 
making  the  bridge  from  the  bank  to  the  saddle.  But  none 
answered  her,  for  they  dared  not  face  the  Zulus  in  the 
open. 

"The  water  will  sweep  them  away,"  they  said;  "more- 
over, when  they  try  to  land  we  can  spear  them." 

"  Cowards,"  she  moaned,  "  on  your  own  heads  be  your 
doom." 

So  the  Umpondwana  contented  themselves  with  stand- 
ing behind  the  first  wall  and  casting  volleys  of  spears  at 
those  who  thrust  out  the  trees  within  thirty  paces  of  them, 
while  Zinti  shot  at  them  with  his  gun,  killing  several. 
Rut  coming  between,  the  Zulus  made  a  shield  hedge  to 
protect  their  comrades,  so  that  the  light  throwing  assegais 
did  little  hurt,  and  of  the  few  that  the  gun  killed  they 
thought  nothing. 
18 


274   .  SWALLOW 

Presently  the  ends  of  the  trees  lay  beneath  the  water  on 
the  ridge  of  rock,  and  the  captain  commanded  a  certain 
induna  to  lead  his  men  across.  Now  all  natives  fear  a  wet 
death,  and  though  he  was  a  brave  man  who  would  gladly 
have  rushed  at  the  fortifications  alone  had  he  been  so 
commanded,  this  soldier  to  whom  the  captain  spoke  looked 
askance  at  the  furious  torrent  and  hesitated.  But  that 
captain  had  served  under  Chaka,  and  knew  how  to  deal 
with  those  who  showed  doubt  or  fear.  Lifting  his  heavy 
assegai,  he  drove  it  through  the  man,  so  that  he  fell  dead, 
and  as  he  smote  cried,  "  Coward,  take  this  gift  from  the 
king! " 

Then,  calling  to  the  soldiers,  he  himself  ran  out  upon 
the  bridge  of  tree-trunks  and  leaped  into  the  water  that 
rose  to  his  middle.  In  an  instant  he  would  have  been 
swept  away,  for  the  current  was  very  fierce,  had  not  those 
who  followed  sprung  down  at  his  side  and  behind  him. 
For  a  moment  they  managed  to  keep  their  feet  till  others 
came,  giving  them  support  and  being  themselves  protected 
by  a  breakwater  built  of  the  men  who  had  gone  first. 
Then,  forming  in  a  double  line,  each  man  linked  his  arms 
round  the  middle  of  his  comrade  in  front,  as  Kaffir  girls 
link  themselves  in  a  dance,  and  very  slowly  this  human 
chain  began  to  struggle  forward  along  the  back  of  the 
ridge.  At  times,  indeed,  the  weight  of  the  stream  was 
almost  too  much  for  them,  and  swept  some  of  them  off  into 
the  deep  water  which  ran  on  either  side,  but  the  strong 
rope  of  human  muscles  held,  and  they  were  dragged  back 
again.  Now  they  were  between  the  lip  of  the  first  walls, 
and  the  Umpoiidwana  soldiers  hurled  spears  at  them  from 
the  banks,  killing  many.  But  if  a  man  was  slain,  or  even 
badly  wounded,  his  companion  who  held  him  let  go,  and, 
if  needful,  thrust  him  into  the  water,  who  could  no  longer 


THIRST  275 

serve  the  king.  Then  he  gripped  the  soldier  who  stood  in 
front  of  the  lost  one,  and  the  chain  dragged  on. 

"  Oh!  men  of  the  Umpondwana,"  cried  Sihamba,  "  had 
you  but  half  the  heart  of  these,  who  are  brave,  we  need  fear 
nothing  from  Dingaan,"  and  the  Zulus  in  the  stream  who 
heard  her  called  in  answer: — 

"  You  are  right,  little  chieftainess,  we  are  brave." 

Slowly  the  black  snake-like  line  pressed  forward  through 
the  white  foam,  never  heeding  the  storm  of  spears  that 
slew  continually,  till  the  point  of  it  was  well  within  the 
third  line  of  walls.  Then  the  captain,  who  by  some  chance 
had  escaped,  called  an  order  to  those  behind  him,  and  the 
head  of  the  double  line  leapt  off  the  ridge  of  rock  into  deep 
water,  and  swimming  with  their  feet,  but  still  gripping 
with  their  hands,  suffered  themselves  to  be  swung  round 
by  the  current  towards  the  bank,  twenty  yards  away.  Here 
some  rocks  jutted  out,  and  these,  after  a  great  struggle, 
they  were  able  to  grasp  and  hold. 

Then  followed  what  Suzanne,  who  was  watching  from 
above,  afterwards  declared  to  be  the  strangest  sight  she  had 
ever  seen,  for  these  men,  who  swung  to  and  fro  in  the 
current,  anchored,  as  it  were,  to  the  ridge  and  the  bank, 
made  of  their  living  bodies  a  bridge  for  their  fellows.  Yes, 
their  companions  ran  and  crawled  over  them,  springing 
from  shoulder  to  shoulder,  and  driving  their  heads  beneath 
the  water  with  the  push  of  their  clinging  feet.  Half- 
drowned  and  almost  torn  in  two  as  they  were,  still  they 
held  on  till  enough  men  were  safe  on  shore  to  finish  the 
fray.  For  when  the  Umpondwana  saw  that  the  Zulus  had 
won  the  bank  they  did  not  stay  to  kill  them  while  they 
landed,  as  might  easily  have  been  done:  no,  dragging  Si- 
hamba with  them,  they  ran  into  the  gorge  leading  to  the 
flat  top  of  the  mountain,  and  blocked  it  with  great  stones 


276  SWALLOW 

that  were  ready.  And  so  it  came  about  that  the  Zulus  won 
this  fight,  though  with  great  loss  to  themselves,  and  cut 
off  the  Umpondwana  from  their  main  supply  of  water. 

But  though  they  had  won  the  fight  they  had  not  won 
the  mountain.  After  resting  a  while  they  began  the  work 
of  storming  the  narrow  gorge  that  led  upwards  to  the  table- 
land, for  this  gorge  was  its  only  gate,  and  at  first  were 
suffered  to  pull  down  or  climb  over  the  walls  which  were 
built  across  it  with  but  little  resistance.  Soon,  however, 
they  found  out  the  reason  of  this,  for  when  a  number  of 
them  were  in  the  gorge  stones  began  to  roll  upon  them 
from  the  edges  of  the  cliffs  above,  crushing  the  life  out  of 
many,  so  that  presently  they  were  driven  back  to  the  head 
of  the  river.  Afterwards  they  searched  long  and  earnestly 
but  could  find  no  other  path  by  which  to  attack,  for  there 
was  none. 

"  Well,"  said  the  Zulu  captain,  "  it  seems  that  we  must 
fight  the  fight  of  '  sit-down,'  and  since  these  rock-rabbits 
will  not  let  us  come  to  them  we  must  wait  till  they  come  to 
us  to  ask  for  water." 

So  they  waited  for  seven  whole  days,  setting  guards 
about  the  mountain  in  case  there  should  be  secret  ways  of 
egress  of  which  they  knew  nothing. 

When  they  reached  the  tableland  Sihamba  spoke  words 
so  bitter  to  her  councillors  and  captains  that  some  of  them 
stopped  their  ears  that  they  might  hear  no  more,  while 
others  answered  that  they  could  do  nothing  against  men 
who  walked  upon  the  boiling  waters. 

"  Xow,  indeed,  you  can  do  nothing  against  them,"  Si- 
hamba cried,  "  for  Thirst  will  fight  for  them,  and  he  is  the 
best  of  friends.  Because  of  your  cowardice  we  must  perish, 
everyone  of  us,  and  for  my  part  I  should  be  glad  of  it  were 


THIRST  277 

it  not  that  you  have  given  the  Lady  Swallow  to  death 
also." 

Then  she  buried  her  face  in  the  ground  and  would  say 
no  more,  even  when  they  told  her  that  the  Zulus  had  been 
beaten  back  by  the  rocks  that  were  rolled  down  upon 
them. 

For  some  days  the  little  spring  gave  enough  water  for 
the  thousands  of  people  who  were  crowded  upon  the  moun- 
tain top,  though  there  was  none  to  spare  for  the  cattle. 
But  on  the  third  night  the  poor  beasts  being  maddened  by 
thirst,  broke  out  of  the  kraal  and  rushing  to  the  spring, 
so  trampled  it  with  their  hoofs  that  its  waters  were  sealed 
up,  and  only  very  little  could  be  obtained  even  by  digging, 
for  here  the  rock  came  near  to  the  surface  of  the  soil,  and 
it  would  seem  as  though  the  course  of  the  spring  was 
turned  or  choked  beneath  it. 

Then  all  those  upon  that  mountain  began  to  suffer  the 
horrors  of  thirst.  Soon  the  cattle  were  altogether  mad  and 
rushed  to  and  fro  in  herds,  bellowing  furiously  and  goring 
everyone  they  met,  or  trampling  them  to  the  earth.  Now 
the  Umpondwana  strove  to  be  rid  of  them  by  driving  them 
down  the  gorge,  but  the  Zulus,  guessing  the  trouble  that 
the  presence  of  these  beasts  was  bringing  upon  the  besieged 
would  not  suffer  them  to  pass.  Next  they  attempted  to 
force  them  over  the  edge  of  the  precipice,  but  when  they 
were  driven  to  it  the  oxen  turned  and  charged  through 
them,  killing  several  men.  After  this  they  contented  them- 
selves with  stabbing  the  most  dangeroiis  of  the  animals,  and 
leaving  the  rest  to  rush  to  and  fro  as  they  would,  for  they 
did  not  care  to  kill  them  all  lest  their  carcasses  should 
breed  a  pestilence. 

The  sixth  day  came,  and,  oh!  the  groat  kraal  of  the 
Umpondwana  was  but  as  a  hell  wherein  lost  souls  wandered 


*78  SWALLOW 

in  torment,  for  the  sun  beat  down  upon  it  fiercely  and 
everywhere  roamed  or  lay  men,  women  and  children  over- 
come with  the  torture  of  thirst;  indeed,  of  the  last,  some 
were  already  dead,  especially  those -who  were  at  the  breast, 
for  their  mothers'  milk  was  dry.  Here  three  men  had 
dragged  an  old  wife  from  her  hut,  and  were  beating  her 
to  make  her  reveal  the  store  of  water  which  she  was  be- 
lieved to  have  hidden;  there  others  were  cutting  the  throat 
of  an  ox  that  they  might  drink  its  blood,  and  yonder  a 
little  girl  was  turning  stones  to  lick  the  damp  side  of  them 
with  her  poor  parched  tongue. 

In  the  midst  of  these  scenes  which  passed  outside  her 
hut,  sat  Sihamba  brooding.  As  chieftainess  she  still  had 
about  a  pint  of  water  stored  in  a  jar,  but  though  she  had 
made  Suzanne  drink,  herself  she  drank  but  little,  for  she 
would  not  consent  to  suffer  less  than  those  about  her. 

Now  Sihamba' s  eyes  fell  upon  the  child  who  was  licking 
stones,  and  her  heart  was  wrung  with  pity.  Going  into  the 
hut  she  fetched  most  of  the  water  in  a  gourd,  and  calling 
to  the  child,  who  staggered  towards  her,  for  she  could 
scarcely  walk,  she  gave  it  to  her,  bidding  her  drink 
slowly. 

In  a  moment  it  was  gone,  every  drop  of  it,  and,  behold! 
the  dim  eyes  brightened,  and  the  shrunken  limbs  seemed 
to  grow  round  again,  while  the  young  voice,  no  longer  high 
and  cracked,  praised  and  blessed  her  name.  Sihamba 
motioned  the  child  away,  then  she  went  into  the  hut  to 
weep,  only  weep  she  could  not,  since  her  eyes  were  too  dry 
for  tears. 

"  Three  more  days,"  she  thought  to  herself,  **  ana!  they 
will  all  be  dead  unless  rain  should  fall.  Yes,  the  cowards, 
and  those  whom  their  cowardice  has  betrayed  will  all  be 
dead  together." 


THIRST  279 

As  she  thought  thus,  Suzanne  entered  the  hut,  and  there 
was  tidings  in  her  eyes. 

"  What  is  it,  sister/'  asked  Sihamba,  "  and  whence  do 
you  come?  " 

"  I  come  from  the  high  seat  upon  the  edge  of  the  cliff," 
she  answered,  "where  I  have  sat  all  day,  for  I  can  no 
longer  bear  these  sights,  and  I  have  this  to  tell,  that  the 
Zulus  are  marching  across  the  plain,  but  not  towards  Zulu- 
land,  since  they  head  for  the  Quathlamba  Mountains." 


CHAPTEK    XXX 

SIHAMBA   PEEVAILS 

Now  a  lire  of  hope  shot  up  in  Sihamba's  eyes,  but  soon 
it  died  out  again. 

"  It  is  a  trick,  it  must  be  a  trick/'  she  said,  "  for  who 
ever  heard  of  a  Zulu  loosing  the  prey  that  was  in  his  hand? 
Never  dare  he  do  it  save  by  the  command  of  the  king,"  and 
she  left  the  hut  to  be  met  by  others  running  with  the  same 
tidings.  Of  these  she  sent  some  down  the  gorge  to  bring 
her  report  of  what  had  happened,  and  with  them  Zinti,  for 
she  could  not  altogether  trust  the  word  of  her  own  people. 

Within  an  hour  the  messengers  returned,  and  on  their 
face's  was  a  strange  look  which,  clever  as  she  was,  Sihamba 
did  not  understand. 

"  Is  the  path  clear?  "  she  asked. 

"  No,  chieftainess,"  they  replied,  "  it  is  still  blocked,  for 
though  the  Zulus  have  gone  we  know  not  where  by  order 
received  from  Dingaan,  Bull-Head  holds  it  with  such  of  his 
own  men  as  are  left  alive." 

"  Had  you  speech  with  the  white  man?  "  she  asked. 

"  Yes,  lady." 

"  Say  on." 

Now  they  looked  about  them  like  people  that  are 
ashamed,  but  at  last  the  oldest  of  them  spoke. 

"  Chieftainess,"  he  said,  "  Bull-Head  made  us  this  offer 


SIHAMBA  PREVAILS  281 

and  in  these  words:  '  You  people  of  the  Umpondwana,  you 
are  dying  of  thirst  and  1  know  it;  yes,  though  the  Zulus 
have  gone  and  but  few  of  us  are  left  here,  yet  you  cannot 
force  the  narrow  way  against  us,  so  that  I  have  only  to  sit 
here  for  a  few  days  longer  and  you  will  be  dead  of  thirst, 
everyone  of  you,  you  and  your  cattle  together.  But  I  do 
not  wish  that  you  should  die,  for  with  you  I  have  no 
quarrel;  also  if  you  die  one  will  perish  among  you  whom  I 
desire  to  keep  alive.  Therefore  I  make  you  this  offer. 
Hand  over  to  me  your  ruler,  Sihamba  Ngenyanga,  and  with 
her  the  white  woman  named  Swallow,  and  you  yourselves 
shall  go  free,  everyone  of  you;  more,  although  I  will  take 
this  stronghold  of  yours  to  live  in  myself,  I  will  give  back 
to  you  the  half  of  the  cattle.  Xow,  answer.' 

"'  Lady,  when  he  had  finished  speaking  we  consulted 
together  and  answered  Bull-Head  thus:  'We  cannot  give 
over  to  you  our  chieftainess  and  her  white  sister,  for  it  is 
better  to  die  than  that  such  dishonour  should  lie  upon  our 
names.  But  if  you  will  let  us  go,  you  can  take  them  from 
among  our  number  as  we  pass  before  you,  for  that  Avill  be 
no  fault  of  ours,  or  if  they  do  not  choose  to  accompany  us, 
after  we  have  gone  by  you  can  ascend  the  mountain  and 
take  them.' 

"To  this  Hull-Head  assented,  saying,  'Sot  the  Lady 
Swallow  in  her  chair  upon  the  cliff  edge  and  Sihamba  at 
her  side  so  that  my  eyes  seeing  them  may  know  that  they 
are  safe,  and  you  shall  go.'  So  it  was  agreed  between  us 
that  to-morrow  at  the  dawn  bo  will  open  the  wall  and  let 
us  down  to  the  river  to  drink,  after  which  we  may  pass 
whither  we  will." 

Xow  when  Sihamba  heard  these  shameful  words  her  rage 
was  so  groat  that  for  a  while  she  could  not  even  speak. 
At  length  she  found  her  tongue  and  gasped  out: 


282  SWALLOW 

"  Oh!  father  of  cowards,  do  you  dare  to  sing  such  a  song 
in  my  ears?  Why  do  not  you,  who  are  many,  storm  the 
pass  and  take  the  water?  " 

"  Lady/'  answered  the  old  man  coldly,  "  we  dare  because 
we  must,  for  honour  cannot  live  before  the  assegai  of  thirst. 
You  talk  to  us  of  storming  the  pass;  we  cannot  storm  it,  for 
ten  men  can  hold  that  place  against  a  hundred;  also  our 
arms  are  weak  and  we  are  weary  of  war.  Listen;  on  the 
one  hand  are  the  lives  of  thousands,  with  them  your  own 
and  that  of  the  White  Swallow,  and  on  the  other  this  dis- 
honour. We  choose  the  dishonour,  since  if  you  and  the 
Swalllow  do  not  desire  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  Bull-Head, 
you  can  still  do  what  you  must  have  done  had  we  chosen 
honour.  Lady,  you  can  die,  knowing  that  by  your  death 
you  have  saved  the  lives  of  the  multitude  over  whom  you 
rule. 

"  Listen  again,  lady,  we  did  not  seek  you,  it  was  you  who 
came  back  to  us  after  the  death  of  the  chief,  your  brother. 
We  accepted  you  and  you  have  ruled  us  justly  for  these 
two  years,  but  you  wish  to  make  of.  us  a  fighting  people 
who  are  and  who  desire  to  remain  a  people  of  peace.  More- 
over, you  promised  that  the  white  chief  tainess,  your  com- 
panion, would  bring  us  prosperity  and  good,  whereas  to  us 
she  has  been  a  bird  of  ill-omen,  for  since  she  came  here  on 
her  accout  there  has  been  war  and  nothing  but  war.  Yes, 
because  of  her  we  have  been  cooped  up  on  this  mountain 
and  killed  whenever  we  ventured  on  to  the  plains  beyond; 
therefore  we  will  have  no  more  of  her,  she  must  find  her 
own  fortune,  for  we  have  our  lives  and  those  of  our  wives 
and  children  to  save. 

"  Further,  I  say  this:  the  news  of  the  offer  of  Bull-Head 
has  gone  abroad  among  the  people,  and  had  we  refused  they 
would  have  torn  us  limb  from  limb,  yes,  and  you  and  the 


PREVAILS  283 

White  Swallow  also.     Our  hearts  are  sad,  but  lady,  who 
can  fight  against  fate  ?  " 

"  I  can/'  answered  Sihamba,  "  but  have  no  fear;  to- 
morrow at  the  dawn  you  bhall  see  us  sit  out  upon  the  cliff 
point;  and  now,  father  of  cowards,  begone,  and  let  me  see 
your  face  no  more.  Betray  us  if  you  will,  you  who  were 
not  men  enough  to  hold  the  water,  you  who  are  not  men 
enough  to  cut  a  path  to  it  as  you  might,  and  therefore  must 
complete  your  cowardice  with  treachery.  Betray  us  if  you 
will,  but  I  tell  you  that  you  shall  not  go  free  from  this  dis- 
grace. The  curse  of  Chaka  shall  fall  upon  you  and  the 
blade  of  the  spear  shall  be  the  inheritance  of  you  who  are 
afraid  to  grasp  its  shaft.  Begone!"  and  withered  by  her 
words  and  the  fire  of  her  eyes,  the  spokesmen  of  the  Um- 
pondwana  crept  like  beaten  hounds  from  the  presence  of 
their  deserted  chieftainess. 

Here  I  will  stop  the  tale  to  say  that  this  prophecy  of 
Sihamba's  came  true,  as  did  all  the  prophecies  of  that 
strange  woman,  who,  with  other  gifts,  without  doubt  had 
that  of  foresight.  A  few  years  later,  when  Panda  was 
king,  and  their  wars  with  us  Boers  were  ended,  the  Zulus, 
who  never  forget  a  quarrel,  swooped  down  upon  the  Um- 
pondwana  unawares,  and  storming  the  mountain  by  night, 
put  all  the  men  on  it  to  the  spear,  and  carried  away  the 
women  and  children  to  Zululand,  so  that  of  this  tribe  there 
remains  nothing  but  some  crumbling  walls  and  a  name  of 
shame. 

Now  the  sun  set  upon  that  home  of  thirst,  and  all  was 
silent  in  it  save  for  the  sound  of  the  hoofs  of  the  galloping 
cattle  as  they  rushed  hither  and  thither,  and  the  groaning 
of  the  women  and  children,  who  wandered  about  seeking 


284  SWALLOW 

grass  to  chew,  for  the  sake  of  the  night  damps  that  gath- 
ered on  it.  Sihaniba  went  into  the  great  hut  where  she 
always  slept  with  Suzanne,  whom  she  found  seated  upon  a 
stool,  wan-faced,  and  her  eyes  set  wide  with  misery  of  mind 
and  body. 

u  What  passes  now  ?  v  asked  Suzanne. 

The  little  woman  came  to  her,  and  throwing  her  anus 
about  her  neck  she  kissed  her,  answering: 

u  Alas!  sister,  all  things  pass,  and  with  them  our  lives," 
and  she  told  her  of  the  surrender  of  the  Umpondwana  and 
its  terms. 

Suzanne  listened  in  silence,  for  grief  and  despair  had 
done  their  worst  with  her,  and  her  heart  could  hold  no 
more  pain. 

"  So  it  is  finished  at  last,"  she  said,  when  Sihamba  had 
spoken,  "  and  this  is  the  end  of  all  our  toil  and  strivings 
and  of  our  long  fight  against  fate.  Yes,  this  is  the  end: 
that  we  must  die,  or  at  the  least  I  must  die,  for  I  will 
choose  death  rather  than  that  Van  Vooren  should  lay  a 
finger  upon  me.  AVell.  I  should  care  little  were  it  not  that 
now  I  believe  my  husband  to  be  still  alive,  and  it  is  hard 
to  go  before  him  into  yonder  darkness,  though  1  believe 
also  that  the  darkness  which  we  fear  will  prove  such  a 
happy  light  as  does  not  shine  upon  this  earth."  and  she  laid 
her  head  upon  Sihamba's  breast  and  they  wept  together. 

Presently  Sihamba  said,  "  My  mind,  that  was  wont  to  be 
clear,  is  darkened.  Pray  to  your  God,  you  who  are  of  His 
people  that  He  may  send  light  upon  it,  so  that  I  can  think 
once  more  while  there  is  yet  time.  Xow  we  wander  in  the 
forest  of  despair,  but  never  yet  was  there  a  forest  so  thick 
that  it  cannot  be  passed.  Pray  then  that  I  may  be  given 
light,  for  your  life  hangs  uprn  it." 

So  Suzanne  prayed,  and  presently,  as  she  prayed,  her 


SIHAMBA   PREVAILS  285 

weariness  overcame  her  and  she  slept,  and  Sihamba  slept 
also.  When  Sihamba  awoke  it  was  within  an  hour  of  mid- 
night. A  little  lamp  of  oil  burnt  in  the  hut,  and  by  the 
light  of  it  she  could  see  the  white  face  of  Suzanne  lying  at 
her  side,  and  groaned  in  her  bitterness  to  think  that  before 
the  sun  set  again  that  face  must  be  whiter  still,  for  she 
knew  that  the  Swallow  was  not  of  the  mind  of  the  Um- 
pondwana,  who  preferred  dishonour  to  death.  "  Oh!  that 
my  wisdom  might  come  back  to  me,"  she  murmured. 
"  Oh!  Great-Great,  God  of  my  sister,  give  me  back  my 
wisdom  and  I  will  pay  my  life  for  it.  Oh!  Lighter  of  the 
stars, for  myself  I  ask  nothing,  who  am  not  of  Thy  children. 
Let  eternal  (1eath  be  my  portion,  but  give  me  back  my 
wisdom  that  I  may  save  my  sister  who  serves  Thee." 

Thus  prayed  Sihamba  out  of  the  depth  of  her  untutored 
heart,  not  for  herself  but  for  another,  and  it  would  seem 
that  her  prayer  was  heard;  though  many  among  our  people 
think  that  God  does  not  listen  to  the  black  creatures.  At 
the  least,  as  her  eyes  wandered  around  the  hut,  they  fell 
upon  certain  jars  of  earthenware.  Now  during  the  years 
that  she  dwelt  among  the  Umpondwana  Suzanne  had  but 
two  pastimes.  One  of  them  was  to  carve  wood  with  a 
knife,  and  the  other  to  paint  pictures  upon  jars,  for  which 
art  she  always  had  a  taste,  these  jars  being  afterwards 
burnt  in  the  fire.  For  pigment*  she  used  certain  clays  or 
ochres,  red  and  black  and  white  and  yellow,  which  were 
found  in  abundance  on  the  slopes  of  the  mountain,  and 
also  a  kind  of  ink  that  she  made  by  boiling  down  the  ker- 
nels of  the  fruit  of  the  green-leaved  tree  which  grew  by  the 
banks  of  the  river. 

Now  it  was  as  she  gazed  at  these  jars  of  pigments  and  the 
brushes  of  goat's  hair  that  the  wisdom  which  she  sought 
came  to  Sihamba;  yes,  in  a  moment  it  came  to  her,  in  a 


286  SWALLOW 

moment  her  plan  was  made,  and  she  knew  that  it  would 
not  fail.  To-morrow  at  the  dawn  the  Umpondwana,  to 
the  number  of  several  thousands,  would  pour  through  the 
pass  on  to  the  plain  beyond.  Well,  Suzanne  should  go 
with  them,  she  should  go  as  a  Ijlack  woman!  Already  her 
hair  and  eyes  were  dark,  and  with  those  pigments  her  snow- 
white  flesh  could  be  darkened  also,  and  then  in  the  crowd 
who  would  know  her  from  a  Kaffir  girl,  she  who  could 
talk  the  language  as  though  she  had  been  born  a  Kaffir. 
Stay!  Bull-Head  was  artful  and  clever,  and  perhaps  he 
might  be  ready  for  such  a  trick.  How  could  she  deceive 
him? 

Again  she  looked  at  the  jars,  and  again  wisdom  came  to 
her.  It  was  the  habit  of  Suzanne  to  sit  in  her  dizzy  chair 
of  rock  and  watch  the  sunrise,  hoping  ever  that  in  the 
light  of  it  she  might  see  white  men  riding  to  rescue  her, 
and  this  Van  Vooren  knew,  for  she  could  be  seen  from  the 
mouth  of  the  pass  below,  where  from  hour  to  hour  he 
would  stand  gazing  at  her  five  hundred  feet  above  his  head. 

Well,  to-morrow  at  the  dawn  another  white  woman 
should  be  seated  yonder  to  satisfy  his  eyes,  or  at  least  a 
woman  who  seemed  to  be  white.  On  the  cliff  edge,  not  far 
from  this  very  rock  lay  the  body  of  a  poor  girl  who  that 
day  had  died  of  thirst.  If  its  face  and  arms  and  feet  were 
painted  white,  and  Suzanne's  cloak  of  white  goat's  hair 
were  set  upon  its  shoulders,  and  the  corpse  itself  placed 
upright  in  the  chair,  who,  looking  at  it  from  hundreds  of 
feet  beneath,  could  guess  that  it  was  not  Suzanne,  and 
who,  seeing  it  set  aloft,  would  seek  for  Suzanne  among  the 
crowd  of  escaping  Kaffirs?  The  plan  was  good;  it  could 
scarcely  fail,  only  time  pressed. 

"  Sister,  awake,"  whispered  Sihamba.  Suzanne  sat  up 
at  once,  for  the  sleep  of  the  doomed  is  light.  "  Listen, 


SIHAMBA  PREVAILS  287 

sister,"  went  on  Sihamba,  "  that  wisdom  for  which  you 
prayed  has  come  to  me,"  and  she  told  her  all  the  plan. 

"  It  is  very  clever,  and  it  may  serve,"  answered  Suzanne, 
"  for  I  understand  these  paints  and  can  stain  myself  so 
that  if  my  hair  is  cut  none  would  know  me  from  a  Kaffir. 
But,  Sihamba,  there  is  one  thing  which  I  do  not  under- 
stand. What  will  you  do?  For  if  you  attempt  to  escape 
your  stature  will  betray  you." 

"  I  ?  "  hesitated  the  little  woman,  "  nay,  I  do  not  know, 
I  have  never  thought  of  it.  Doubtless  I  shall  win  through 
in  this  way  or  in  that." 

"  You  are  deceiving  me,  Sihamba,  Well,  there  is  an 
end,  I  will  not  go  without  you." 

"  Can  you  think  of  death  and  say  that  you  will  not  go 
without  me?  " 

"  I  can  Sihamba." 

"  Can  you  think  of  your  husband  and  say  that  you  will 
that  you  will  not  go  without  me?  " 

"  I  can,  Sihamba." 

"  Can  you  think  of  your  husband  and  say  that  you  will 
not  go  without  me  ?  " 

"  I  can,"  faltered  Suzanne. 

"  Truly  you  are  brave,"  laughed  the  little  woman. 
"  There  is  more  courage  in  that  white  heart  of  yours  than 
in  those  of  all  the  TJmpondwana.  Well,  sister,  I  also  am 
brave,  or  at  the  least  for  these  many  moons  I  have  set  my- 
self a  task,  nor  will  I  shrink  from  it  at  the  end,  and  that  is 
to  save  you  from  Piet  Van  Vooren  as  once  at  a  dearer  price 
you  saved  me.  Now,  hearken,  for  myself  I  have  no  fear; 
as  I  have  said,  doubtless  in  this  way  or  in  that  I  shall  win 
through,  but  it  cannot  be  at  your  side.  I  must  rejoin  you 
afterwards.  What,  you  refuse  to  go?  Then,  Lady  Swal- 
low, you  send  me  down  to  death  and  your  hands  are  red 


288  SWALLOW 

with  my  blood.  I  am  weary,  I  will  not  live  to  see  more 
trouble;  life  is  hard  and  death  is  easy.  Finish  your  own 
battle,  Swallow,  and  fly  out  your  flight  alone/'  and  drawing 
a  knife  from  her  girdle  Sihamba  laid  it  upon  her  knee. 

"  Do  you  mean  that  you  will  kill  yourself  if  I  refuse  your 
prayer?  " 

"  Nothing  less,  sister,  and  at  once,  for  I  thirst,  and  would 
seek  some  land  where  there  is  water,  or  where  we  need 
none.  It  comes  to  this,  then:  if  you  consent  I  may  live,  if 
you  refuse  I  must  die." 

"  I  cannot  do  it,"  moaned  Suzanne.  "  Let  us  die  to- 
gether." 

Now  Sihamba  crept  to  her  and  whispered  in  her  ear: 

"  Think  of  Ralph  Kenzie  and  of  what  his  life  must  be  if 
you  should  die.  Think  of  those  children  who  will  come, 
and  of  that  first  kiss  of  love  found  again  which  you  must 
miss  in  death,  whatever  else  it  may  have  to  give.  Think 
of  the  knife's  point  that  you  would  change  for  it,  or  the 
last  sick  rush  down  a  mountain  height  of  space.  Think  of 
your  husband.  Hark!  I  hear  him  calling  you." 

Then  Suzanne  yielded. 

"  0  woman  with  a  noble  heart,"  she  murmured,  "  I  listen 
to  your  tempting;  may  God  forgive  me  and  God  reward 
you,  0  woman  with  the  noble  heart." 


CHAPTER   XXXI 

SIHAMBA'S  FAKEWELL 

THEN  they  began  the  work,  for  mueh  must  be  done  be- 
fore the  daylight  came.  First  Sihamba  took  a  sharp  knife, 
and  with  it  cut  off  Suzanne's  beautiful  hair  close  to  the 
head,  over  which  what  was  left  of  it  curled  naturally.  To 
disguise  it  further,  for  though  it  was  dark  it  was  too  fine 
for  the  hair  of  a  native,  she  put  grease  upon  it  and  pow- 
dered it  with  the  blue  dust  that  Kaffir  women  use.  This 
done,  the  poor  girl  stripped  herself,  and  with  the  help  of 
Sihamba  smeared  all  her  body,  every  inch  of  it  down  to  the 
soles  of  her  feet,  with  the  ink-like  juice  mixed  with  the 
black  earth  and  grease,  which  when  it  was  dry  made  her 
the  colour  of  a  Kaffir.  Next  Sihamba  dressed  her  in  a 
native  woman's  moocha  made  of  skin  and  beads,  and  gave 
her  an  old  skin  blanket  to  wear  upon  her  shoulders  and 
hide  sandals  for  her  feet,  together  with  anklets  of  beads 
and  copper  wire.  Then  having  examined  her  all  over  to 
see  that  no  sign  of  her  white  skin  could  be  seen  through 
the  pigments,  and  burned  the  long  tresses  of  her  hair,  Si- 
hamba went  to  the  door  of  the  hut. 

"  Where  are  you  going?  "  asked  Suzanne. 

"To  find  Zinti,"  she  answered,  "for  now  we  must  have 
his  help." 

"  Xo,  no."  cried  Suzanne.  "  T  am  ashamed  to  be  seen 
thus  by  any  man." 
19 


290  SWALLOW 

"  Wherefore,  Swallow,  seeing  that  for  some  days  you  are 
but  a  Kaffir  woman,  and  this  is  their  dress,  of  which  none 
think  harm?  Nay,  you  must,  for  remember  that  if  you 
show  doubt  or  shame,  you  will  betray  yourself." 

Then  with  a  groan  Suzanne  yielded,  and  crouching  upon 
the  floor  like  a  native,  awaited  the  return  of  Sihamba. 
Presently  she  came,  followed  by  Zinti,  who  was  in  good 
case,  though  somewhat  thin,  for  Zinti  was  clever  and  provi- 
dent, and,  foreseeing  what  would  come,  he  had  hidden 
water  for  himself  among  the  rocks. 

"  Zinti,"  said  Sihamba,  "  I  would  speak  with  you  of 
secret  matters." 

"  Speak  on,  lady,"  he  answered — here  his  eyes  fell 
upon  Suzanne  crouched  on  the  ground  in  the  full  light  of 
the  lamp — "  but  there  is  a  stranger  present." 

"  This  is  no  stranger,  Zinti,"  said  Sihamba,  "  but  one 
whom  you  know  well." 

"  Indeed,  lady,  I  know  her  not.  Should  I  forget  one  so 
beautiful?  And  yet — and  yet — "  and  he  rubbed  his  eyes 
and  stared,  gasping,  "  it  cannot  be." 

"  Yes,  it  is,  Zinti.  There  sits  the  lady  Swallow  and  none 
other." 

Now  although  there  was  little  mirth  left  in  him,  Zinti 
burst  out  laughing  till  the  tears  ran  from  his  eyes,  and 
Sihamba  struck  him  with  her  hands,  calling  him  "  Fool," 
and  commanding  him  to  be  silent. 

"  Wow!  "  he  said,  "  this  is  wonderful.  This  is  magic 
indeed.  She  who  was  white  as  snow  has  become  black  as  coal, 
and  yes,  she  looks  best  black.  Oh!  this  is  magic  indeed." 

At  his  words  Suzanne  sprang  up  looking  as  though  she 
were  about  to  weep,  and  Sihamba  stopped  his  lips  with 
fierce  words  and  blows,  though  he  took  small  heed  of  either, 
but  stood  staring. 


SIIIAMBAS  FAREWELL  291 

u  Zinti,"  Sihamba  said,  "  you  have  done  me  many  ser- 
vices, but  to-day  you  must  do  me  the  greatest  of  all.  This 
morning  at  the  daylight  the  lady  Swallow  will  pass  with 
the  multitude  down  the  cleft  yonder  and  none  will  know 
her  in  that  disguise.  You  must  go  with  her,  but  not  too 
near  her,  and  cross  the  plain,  meeting  her  by  the  saw-edged 
rock  which  stands  yonder  at  the  mouth  of  the  gorge  in  the 
Quathlamba  mountains.  Then  you  must  lead  her  as  fast 
as  you  can  travel  to  that  camp  of  the  Boers  which  is  near 
the  Tugela  River,  where  she  will  be  safe.  Do  you  under- 
stand?" 

e<  I  understand,  lady.     But  what  of  yourself?  " 

"  It  is  my  plan  to  hide  on  the  mountain,"  Sihamba  an- 
swered quickly,  "  in  a  secret  place  I  know  of,  seeing  that 
it  is  impossible  that  I  should  escape  because  my  stature 
would  betray  me.  I  will  join  you  at  the  Boer  camp  later; 
or,  failing  that,  you  can  return  in  a  while — say  on  the  first 
night  of  the  new  moon — to  search  for  me.  But  talk  no 
more,  for  we  have  still  much  to  do.  Yes,  we  who  have 
made  a  white  woman  black,  must  make  a  black  woman 
white.  Follow  me,  both  of  you,"  and  giving  Zinti  a  jar 
of  pigment  and  the  long  goat-skin  cloak  which  Suzanne 
wore  for  an  outer  garment,  she  left  the  hut,  carrying  in  her 
hand  strips  of  ox-hide  tanned  white. 

Avoiding  the  groups  of  thirst-tormented  people  who  sat 
or  wandered  about  in  the  coolness  of  the  night,  they  passed 
through  the  gates  of  the  kraal  unheeded,  and  walking 
quickly  across  the  wide  stretch  of  tableland  reached  the 
eastern  edge  of  the  cliff.  Xow  upon  the  very  verge  of  this 
cliff  rose  a  sharp  pinnacle  of  rock  fifty  feet  or  more  into 
the  air,  and  upon  the  top  of  this  pinnacle  was  that  stone 
shaped  like  a  great  chair,  in  which  Suzanne  sat  day  by  day, 
poised  like  an  eagle  over  the  dizzy  gulf  of  space,  for  the 


292  SWALLOW 

slopes  of  the  mountain  swelled  five  hundred  feet  beneath, 
watching  for  the  help  that  never  came.  Not  far  from  the 
base  of  this  point  Sihamba  began  to  search  in  the  starlight 
till  she  found  what  she  wanted,  the  body  of  a  young  woman 
who  had  crept  here  to  die  of  thirst,  and  whose  death  and 
the  place  of  it  had  been  reported  to  her. 

Now  she  took  the  jar  of  white  clay,  and,  aided  by  Zinti, 
set  about  her  ghastly  task,  daubing  the  stuff  thickly  upon 
the  cold  features  and  the  neck  and  arms  and  feet.  Soon  it 
was  done,  for  such  work  needed  little  care,  but  then  began 
their  true  toil  since  the  corpse  must  be  carried  up  the  sharp 
point  of  rock,  and  that  by  no  easy  path.  Had  not  Zinti 
been  so  strong  it  could  never  have  been  done;  still,  with 
the  aid  of  Suzanne  and  Sihamba  herself,  at  last  it  was 
finished. 

Up  that  steep  place  they  toiled,  the  three  of  them,  drag- 
ging the  dead  body  from  knob  to  knob  of  rock,  well  know- 
ing that  one  false  step  in  the  gloom  would  send  them  to 
be  broken  to  pieces  hundreds  of  feet  beneath.  At  length 
they  reached  the  little  platform  where  there  was  scarcely 
room  for  all  of  them  to  stand  with  their  burden,  and  climb- 
ing on  to  the  stone  which  was  called  the  Chair,  Zinti  drew 
the  dead  woman  into  the  seat  of  it. 

Then  as  Sihamba  bade  him  he  wrapped  her  in  Suzanne's 
long  white  cape  of  goat-skin,  putting  the  hood  of  it  upon 
her  head,  after  which  he  made  the  corpse  fast  in  a  sitting 
posture,  lashing  it  round  the  neck  and  middle  to  the  back 
of  the  stone  with  the  white  tanned  rimpis  in  such  fashion 
that  it  could  not  fall  or  even  slip. 

"  So,"  said  Sihamba  grimly,  "  there  sits  the  bride  upon 
whom  Swart  Piet  can  feast  his  eyes  while  you  seek  safety 
across  the  mountains.  ISTow  back  to  the  town,  for  from 
this  height  I  can  already  see  light  glimmering  in  the  east." 


BlHAM&AS  FA&EWELL  293 

Accordingly  they  returned  to  the  hut  and  entered  it, 
leaving  Zinti  without,  none  noting  them  since  by  now  the 
multitudes  were  thronging  the  narrow  way.  Here  Sihamba 
lit  the  lamp,  and  by  its  light  once  more  examined  Suzanne 
carefully,  retouching  the  dye  in  this  place  and  in  that,  till 
she  was  sure  that  no  gleam  of  white  showed  through  it. 

"It  is  good,"  she  said  at  length;  "unless  you  betray 
yourself,  your  skin  will  not  betray  you.  And  now,  lady 
Swallow,  the  hour  has  come  for  us  to  part,  and  I  rejoice  to 
think  that  some  of  the  debt  I  owe  you  I  have  repaid.  Long 
ago  I  told  you  that  very  far  away  I  should  live  to  save  you 
as  you  saved  me,  and  I  am  sure  that  I  have  saved  you; 
there  is  no  doubt  of  it  in  my  heart.  Yes,  yes,  Swallow,  I 
see  you  most  happy  in  the  love  of  husband  and  of  children, 
thinking  of  all  these  things  as  a  far-off  evil  dream,  as  of  a 
dream  that  never  will  return.  What  more  do  I  desire? 
What  more  have  I  to  ask? 

"  I  say  that  I  have  repaid  to  you  part  of  the  debt  I  owe, 
but  all  of  it  I  can  never  repay,  for,  Swallow,  you  have 
given  me  love  which  elsewhere  has  been  denied  to  me. 
Others  have  parents  and  brothers  and  sisters  and  husbands 
to  love  them;  I  have  none  of  these.  I  have  only  you  who 
are  to  me  father  and  mother  and  sister  and  lover. 

"  How  then  can  I  repay  you  who  have  taught  this  cold 
heart  of  mine  to  love,  and  have  deigned  to  love  me  in  re- 
turn? Oh!  and  the  love  will  not  die;  no.  no,  it  will  live 
on  when  all  else  is  dead,  for  although  I  am  but  a  Kaffir 
doctoress,  at  times  light  shines  upon  my  heart,  and  in  that 
light  I  see  many  new  things.  Yes,  yes,  I  see  that  this  life 
of  ours  is  but  a  road,  a  weary  road  across  the  winter 
veldt,  and  this  death  but  the  black  gate  of  a  garden  of 
flowers — 

"  Oh!  why  do  you  speak  thus?  "  broke  in  Suzanne.     "  Is 


294  SWALLOW 

this  then  our  last  farewell,  and  does  your  wisdom  tell  you 
that  we  part  to  meet  no  more  ?  " 

"  I  know  not,  Swallow,"  answered  Sihamba  hastily,  "  but 
if  it  should  be  so  I  care  nothing,  for  I  am  sure  that  through 
all  your  days  you  will  not  forget  me,  and  that  when  your 
days  are  done  I  shall  meet  you  at  the  foot  of  the  death-bed. 
Nay,  you  must  not  weep.  Now  go  swiftly,  for  it  is  time,, 
and  even  in  your  husband's  love  be  mindful  always  that  a 
woman  can  love  also;  yes,  though  she  be  but  a  dwarfed 
Kaffir  doctoress.  Swallow — Sister  Swallow,  fare  you  well," 
and,  throwing  herself  upon  her  breast,  Sihamba  kissed  her 
again  and  again.  Then,  with  a  strange  strength,  she  thrust 
her  from  the  hut,  calling  to  Zinti  to  take  charge  of  her  and 
do  as  she  had  bidden  him,  adding  that  if  he  failed  in  this 
task  she  would  blast  his  body  and  haunt  his  spirit. 

Thus  parted  Sihamba,  the  Kaffir  witch-doctoress,  and 
my  daughter  Suzanne,  whom  she  kept  safe  for  nearly  three 
years,  and  saved  at  last  at  the  cost  of  her  own  life.  Yes, 
thus  they  parted,  and  for  always  in  the  flesh,  since  it  was 
not  fated  that  they  should  meet  again  in  this  world,  and 
whether  it  has  been  permitted  to  Sihamba — being  a  Kaffir, 
and  no  Christian — to  enter  a  better  one  is  more  than  I  can 
say.  In  her  case,  however,  I  hope  that  she  has  found  some 
hole  to  creep  through,  for  although  she  was  a  black  witch- 
doctoress,  according  to  her  knowledge  she  was  a  good 
woman  and  a  brave  one,  as  the  reader  will  say  also  before 
he  comes  to  the  end  of  this  story. 

Outside  the  hut  Zinti  took  Suzanne  by  the  hand  and  led 
her  through  the  mazes  of  the  town  to  the  open  ground  that 
lay  between  it  and  the  mouth  of  the  steep  cleft  which  ran 
down  to  the  slopes  of  the  mountain. 


SIIIAMBA'S  FAREWELL  295 

All  this  space  was  crowded  with  people,  for  as  yet  they 
could  not  enter  the  cleft,  which  nowhere  was  more  than 
ten  feet  wide,  because  it  was  filled  with  cattle,  some  alive 
and  some  dead,  that,  drawn  by  the  smell  of  the  water  be- 
neath, had  gathered  as  near  to  it  as  the  stone  walls  which 
blocked  the  pass  would  allow. 

Suzanne  and  Zinti  mingled  with  this  crowd  of  fugitives, 
taking  a  position  almost  in  the  midst  of  it,  for  they  did  not 
wish  to  pass  out  either  among  the  first  or  the  last.  There 
they  waited  a  while,  none  noting  them,  for  in  their  great 
agony  of  thirst  all  thought  of  themselves  and  not  of  their 
neighbours.  Indeed,  husbands  deserted  their  sick  wives 
and  mothers  their  children,  which  were  too  heavy  to  carry; 
yes,  they  deserted  them  to  be  trampled  by  the  feet  of  men 
and  the  hoofs  of  cattle. 

Now,  the  eastern  sky  grew  grey,  and  though  the  sun  had 
not  yet  risen  the  light  was  such  that  a  man  could  see  the 
veins  upon  the  back  of  his  hand  and  the  white  moons  on  his 
finger-nails.  Presently,  as  though  moved  by  one  impulse, 
thousands  of  voices  uttered  a  hoarse  cry  of  "It  is  dawn! 
Open,  open! " 

But  it  would  seem  that  the  wall  still  stood,  for  the  cattle 
remained  packed  in  so  dense  a  mass  that  a  man  could  have 
walked  upon  their  backs,  as,  indeed,  some  tried  to  do. 

At  last  the  sun  rose,  or  rather  its  rays  shot  upwards  across 
the  eastern  skies  like  a  fan  of  fire.  Suzanne  turned  her 
head  and  watched  till  presently  the  arrows  of  light  struck 
upon  the  tall  chair  rock  which  was  the  highest  point  of  all 
the  mountain.  Yes,  there  in  the  chair  sat  the  white  figure 
and  by  its  side  stood  what  seemed  to  be  a  black  child.  It 
was  Sihamba.  Far  below  other  eyes  were  watching  also, 
the  eyes  of  Swart  Piet,  for  he  would  not  let  the  people  go 
until  he  knew  that  Suzanne  and  Sihamba  stayed  behind. 


296  SWALLOW 

But  now  he  saw  them,  Suzanne  in  her  accustomed  place,, 
and  at  her  side  Sihamba. 

"  Pull  down  the  walls/'  he  shouted  to  his  men,  for  he 
was  eager  to  clear  the  pass  of  cattle  and  Kaffirs  that  he 
might  go  up  it,  and  they  obeyed  him.  Before  they  were 
more  than  half  down  the  oxen,  pushing  and  leaping  for- 
ward madly,  cleared  what  was  left  of  them  and,  open- 
mouthed,  their  lolling  tongues  hanging  from  their  dry 
jaws,  rushed  downward  to  the  water,  goring  or  trampling 
to  death  some  of  those  who  worked  at  the  wall. 

"  The  schanzes  are  down,"  screamed  the  people,  seeing 
the  long  line  of  cattle  move,  and  immediately  they  began 
to  press  forward  also. 

At  Suzanne's  side  was  a  young  woman  so  weak  with 
thirst  that  she  could  scarcely  walk,  and  on  her  back  a  year- 
old  boy,  insensible  but  living,  for  a  red  froth  bubbled  from 
his  lips.  A  man  thrust  this  Avoman  to  one  side  and  she 
fell;  it  was  that  aged  councillor  who  on  the  yesterday  had 
brought  news  of  the  surrender  to  Sihamba.  She  tried  to 
struggle  to  her  feet  but  others  trampled  upon  her. 

"  Sister,  sister!  "  she  cried,  clutching  Suzanne  by  the 
hide  blanket  which  she  wore,  "  I  am  dead,  but  oh !  save  my 
child." 

"  Let  it  be,"  whispered  Zinti,  but  Suzanne  could  not 
deny  those  piteous  eyes,  and  as  she  passed  she  snatched  up 
the  boy  and  the  sling  in  which  he  was  carried  by  the  dying 
woman,  setting  the  band  of  it  beneath  her  own  breast.  So 
she  went  forward,  bearing  him  upon  her  hip,  nor  did  that 
act  of  mercy  lack  its  reward,  for  as  shall  be  seen  it  was  her 
salvation.  Also  the  child  lived,  and  to  this  day  is  a  faith- 
ful servant  in  our  house,  though  now  his  beard  is  white. 

Down  the  narrow  way  surged  the  crowd,  scrambling  over 
rocks  and  dead  cattle  and  crushed  women  and  children, 


FAllEWELL  Ml 

till  at  the  last  Suzanne  drew  near  its  opening,  where  stood 
Swart  Piet  and  some  twenty  of  his  followers,  watching  the 
multitude  pass  out. 

"  Lady/'  whispered  Zinti  into  her  ear,  "  now  I  fall  be- 
hind, for  Bull-Head  may  know  me.  If  I  win  through  I 
will  rejoin  you  on  the  plain,  or  by  the  saw-edged  rock;  if  I 
do  not,  throw  away  that  child,  and  follow  the  road  of  which 
I  have  told  you,  you  can  scarcely  mistake  it.  Go  on,  show- 
ing no  fear,  and — stay,  let  that  blanket  hang  open  in  front, 
it  is  not  the  custom  of  these  women  to  wear  their  garments 
wrapped  so  closely." 

Suzanne  groaned,  but  she  obeyed. 


CHAPTER    XXXII 

THE    PASS    OF   THE    QUATHLAMBA 

LIKE  wild  beasts  escaping  from  a  pen,  that  red-eyed, 
gasping  mob  rushed  and  staggered  to  the  edge  of  the  water. 
and,  plunging  their  heads  into  it  with  hoarse  grunts  and 
cries,  drank  and  drank  and  drank.  Indeed,  several  lost 
their  lives  there,  for  some  filled  themselves  so  full  that 
their  vitals  were  ruptured,  and  some  were  thrust  into  the 
river  by  the  cattle  or  those  pressing  behind  them,  to  be 
carried  away  by  the  swift  stream. 

Just  at  the  mouth  of  the  pass  Suzanne,  laden  with  the 
child,  was  pushed  down  by  those  who  followed,  and  doubt- 
less would  have  been  trampled  to  death,  had  not  one  of 
Swart  Piet's  men,  desiring  to  clear  the  way,  or,  perhaps, 
moved  to  pity  at  her  plight,  dragged  her  to  her  feet  again. 
But  when  he  had  done  this  he  did  not  let  her  go,  but  held 
her,  staring  at  her  beauty  with  greedy  eyes. 

"  Here  is  a  rock-rabbit  whom  I  shall  keep  for  a  wife,"  he 
cried.  "  I  would  rather  take  her  than  twenty  fat  oxen." 

Now  Suzanne's  heart  nearly  stood  still  with  terror. 

"  Water,  water,"  she  moaned;  "  let  me  drink,  I  pray 
you." 

"  Do  not  fear,  I  will  take  you  to  drink,  my  pretty,"  went 
on  the  man,  still  staring  at  her. 

Then,  losing  command  of  herself,  Suzanne  screamed  and 


THE  PASS  OF  THE  QUATIILAMBA  299 

struggled,  and  the  sound  of  her  cries  reached  the  ears  of 
Swart  Piet,  who  was  standing  close  at  hand. 

"  What  is  this?  "  he  asked  of  the  man. 

"  Nothing,  Bull-Head,  except  that  I  have  taken  a  woman 
whom  I  wish  for  a  wife  because  she  is  so  fair." 

Van  Vooren  let  his  eyes  rest  upon  her,  but  dreamily,  for 
all  his  thoughts  were  given  to  her  who  sat  aloft  five  hun- 
dred feet  above  his  head,  and,  feeling  their  glance,  Su- 
zanne's blood  froze  in  her  veins. 

"  Yes,  she  is  fair/'  he  answered,  "  but  she  is  a  married 
woman,  and  I  will  have  no  Umpondwana  brats  among  my 
people.  Let  her  go,  and  take  a  girl  if  you  will."  For  Van 
Vooren  did  not  wish  that  the  few  men  who  remained  with 
him  should  cumber  themselves  just  then  with  women  and 
children,  since  they  were  needed  to  look  after  the  cattle. 

"  Maid  or  wife,  I  choose  this  one  and  no  other,"  said  the 
man  sulkily. 

Then  Black  Piet,  whose  sullen  temper  could  not  brook 
to  be  crossed,  broke  into  a  blaze  of  rage. 

"  Do  you  dare  to  disobey  me?  "  he  shouted  with  an  awful 
Kaffir  oath.  "  Let  her  go,  dog,  or  I  will  kill  you." 

At  this  the  man,  who  knew  his  master,  loosed  hold  of 
Suzanne,  who  ran  away,  though  it  was  not  until  she 
reached  the  water  that  she  noticed  a  white  ring  round  her 
arm,  where  his  grip  had  rubbed  the  paint  off  the  skin  be- 
neath. Strangely  enough  Van  Vooren  saw  the  ring,  and 
at  that  distance  mistook  it  for  an  ivory  ornament  such  as 
Kaffir  women  often  wear  above  the  elbow.  Still  more 
strangely  its  white  colour  made  him  think  again  of  the 
white  woman  who  sat  aloft  yonder,  and  he  turned  his  face 
upwards,  forgetting  all  about  the  black  girl  with  the  child. 

Thrusting  herself  through  the  crowd,  Suzanne  ran  on 
for  a  while  till  she  was  clear  of  the  worst  of  it,  then  terrified 


300  SWALLOW 

though  she  was,  she  could  resist  the  temptation  of  the 
water  no  longer,  for  her  mouth  and  throat  felt  dry  and 
rough.  Climbing  down  to  the  edge  of  the  river  she  drank 
greedily  under  the  shelter  of  a  rock,  and  when  she  had 
satisfied  some  of  her  thirst,  she  poured  water  into  the 
mouth  of  the  child,  dipping  its  shrunken  little  body  into 
the  stream,  whereon  it  seemed  to  increase  before  her  eyes 
like  a  dry  sponge  that  is  left  out  in  the  rain. 

While  she  tended  the  child  thus,  and  just  as  it  began  to 
find  its  senses  and  to  wail  feebly,  she  chanced  to  look  up, 
and  to  her  terror  saw  that  man  from  whom  she  had  escaped 
walking  along  the  bank  searching  for  her.  Happy  was  it 
for  Suzanne  that  the  rock  under  which  she  was  crouched 
hid  her,  for  the  man  stood  for  thirty  seconds  or  more 
within  two  paces,  so  that  she  was  obliged  to  plunge  the 
body  of  the  boy  under  water  to  stifle  its  crying. 

Then,  as  it  happened,  the  Kaffir  caught  sight  of  another 
woman  and  infant,  more  than  a  hundred  yards  away,  and 
ran  off  towards  them.  Thereon  Suzanne,  replacing  the 
half-choked  child  upon  her  back,  climbed  the  bank,  hiding 
the  white  mark  upon  her  arm  beneath  the  blanket,  and 
taking  such  shelter  as  she  could  behind  stones  or  cattle,  or 
knots  of  people  who,  their  thirst  appeased,  were  hastening 
to  escape,  she  slipped  across  the  shoulder  of  the  slope. 

Now  she  was  out  of  sight  of  Swart  Piet  and  his  men,  and 
for  the  first  time  for  many  a  day  began  to  breathe  freely. 
For  a  while  she  crept  on  round  the  flank  of  the  mountain, 
then  at  the  best  of  her  speed  she  struck  across  the  plain 
straight  for  the  saw-edged  rock  ten  miles  away,  which 
marked  the  entrance  to  the  pass  over  the  Quathlamba 
range. 

From  time  to  time  Suzanne  looked  behind  her,  but  none 
followed  her,  nor,  search  as  she  would,  could  she  discover 


THE  PASS  OF  THE  QUATHLAMBA  301 

any  trace  of  Zinti,  who,  she  began  to  fear,  must  have  come 
to  some  harm.  One  thing  she  could  see,  however — the 
whitened  corpse  set  on  high  in  the  chair  of  rock,  and  by 
the  side  of  it  a  black  dot  that  she  knew  to  be  Sihamba. 
Twice  she  turned  round  and  gazed  at  it,  but  the  second 
time  the  dot  had  become  almost  imperceptible,  although  it 
still  was  there.  Long  and  earnestly  she  looked,  sending 
her  farewell  through  space  to  that  true  friend  and  deliverer 
whose  eyes,  as  she  knew  well,  watched  her  flight  and  whose 
heart  went  with  her. 

Then  she  travelled  on  sadly,  wondering  what  was  that 
plan  of  escape  of  which  Sihamba  had  spoken,  and  why  it 
was  that  she  stood  there  by  the  corpse  and  did  not  put  it 
into  practice,  wondering  also  when  they  should  meet  again 
and  where.  A  third  time  she  turned,  and  now  the  dead 
woman  on  the  rock  was  but  as  a  tiny  point  of  white,  and 
now  it  had  altogether  vanished  away. 

After  this  Suzanne  halted  no  more,  but  pressed  on  stead- 
ily towards  the  saw-edged  spur,  which  she  reached  about 
twelve  o'clock,  for  the  grass  was  so  tall,  the  untrodden 
veldt  so  rough,  and  the  sun  so  hot  that,  weak  as  she  felt 
with  grief  and  the  effects  of  thirst,  and  laden  with  a  heavy 
child,  her  progress  was  very  slow.  At  length,  however, 
she  stood  gasping  in  its  shadow,  gazing  dismayed  at  the 
huge  range  of  mountains  before  her  and  the  steep  rough 
cliffs  up  which  she  must  climb. 

"  Xever  shall  I  cross  them  without  food  and  weighted 
with  this  child,  so  the  end  of  it  will  be  that  I  must  die 
after  all,"  thought  Suzanne  as  she  sank  down  by  the  banks 
of  a  little  rivulet,  resting  her  swollen  feet  in  its  cool  stream, 
for  then,  and  indeed  for  weeks  after,  it  seemed  to  her  that 
she  could  never  have  enough  of  the  taste  and  smell  and  feel 
of  water. 


302  SWALLOW 

As  she  sat  thus,  striving  to  still  the  wailing  of  the 
hungry  boy,  suddenly  the  shadow  of  a  man  fell  upon  her. 
With  a  cry  she  sprang  to  her  feet  to  find  herself  face  to 
face  with  Zinti. 

"  Oh!  I  thought  that  they  had  taken  you/'  she  ex- 
claimed. 

"  No,  lady,  I  escaped,  but  I  crossed  the  plain  far  to  your 
left,  for  it  seemed  better  that  we  should  not  be  seen  travel- 
ling together  from  the  mountain.  Xow  let  us  eat  who 
have  eaten  little  for  so  many  days,  lacking  water  to  wash 
down  the  food,"  and  from  the  large  skin  wallet  which  he 
bore  Zinti  drew  out  dried  flesh  and  roasted  corn. 

Suzanne  looked  at  the  food  with  longing,  but  before  she 
touched  any  she  took  some  corn,  and  having  pounded  it 
into  a  pulp  with  a  stone,  she  mixed  it  with  water  and  fed 
the  child,  who  devoured  the  stuff  greedily  and  presently  fell 
asleep.  Then  they  ate  as  much  as  they  wanted,  since  Zinti 
carried  enough  for  three  such  meals,  and  never  did  Suzanne 
take  meat  with  a  greater  relish.  Afterwards,  though  she 
yearned  to  sleep,  they  pressed  on  again,  for  Zinti  said  it 
was  not  safe  to  stay,  since  long  before  this  Van  Vooren 
would  be  seeking  her  far  and  wide,  and  if  he  chanced  to 
discover  the  secret  of  her  flight  he  would  travel  further  in 
one  hour  on  horseback  than  they  could  in  four  on  foot. 
So  they  went  forward  up  the  pass  much  refreshed,  Zinti 
carrying  the  child. 

All  day  long  they  walked  thus,  resting  at  intervals,  till 
by  sunset  they  reached  the  crest  of  the  pass,  and  saw  the 
wide  plains  of  Xatal  stretched  out  like  a  map  beneath  them, 
and  on  them,  not  so  very  far  away  and  near  to  the  banks 
of  the  river  that  wound  at  their  feet,  a  white-topped  kop- 
pie,  beneath  which,  said  Zinti,  was  the  Boer  camp. 

Suzanne  sat  down  and  looked,  and  there,  yes,  there  the 


THE  PASS  OF  THE  QUATHLAMBA  303 

caps  of  the  waggons  gleamed  in  the  fading  light;  and  oh! 
her  heart  leapt  at  the  sight  of  them,  for  in  those  waggons 
were  white  men  and  women  such  as  she  had  not  seen  for 
years,  and  with  whom  at  length  she  would  be  safe.  But 
even  as  her  breast  heaved  at  the  thought  of  it,  an  icy,  un- 
natural wind  seemed  to  stir  her  hair,  and  of  a  sudden  she 
felt,  or  seemed  to  feel,  the  presence  of  Sihamba.  For  a 
moment,  and  one  only,  it  was  with  her,  then  it  was  gone, 
nor  during  all  her  life  did  it  ever  come  back  again. 

"  Oh!  Sihamba  is»  dead!  "  she  cried. 

Zinti  looked  at  her  in  question. 

"  It  may  well  be  so/'  he  said -sadly,  "  but  I  pray  that  it 
is  not  so,  for  she  is  the  best  of  chieftainesses.  At  least  we 
have  our  own  lives  to  save,  so  let  us  go  on,"  and  again  they 
pressed  forward  through  the  gathering  gloom. 

Soon  it  grew  dark,  and  had  her  guide  been  any  other 
man  than  Zinti  Suzanne  must  have  stopped  where  she  was 
till  the  moon  rose  at  midnight.  But  Zinti  could  find 
any  path  that  his  feet  had  trod  even  in  the  dark;  yes,  al- 
though it  ran  through  piled-up  rocks  on  the  mountain  side, 
and  was  cut  with  the  course  of  streams  which  must  be 
forded. 

In  wading  through  one  of  these  rivulets,  Suzanne  struck 
her  bare  ankle  against  a  stone  and  lamed  herself,  so  that 
from  this  time  forward,  shivering  and  wet  with  water,  for 
her  hurt  was  so  sharp  and  sudden  that  she  had  fallen  in 
the  stream,  she  was  forced  to  walk  leaning  on  Zinti's 
shoulder,  and  indeed  over  some  rough  places  he  was  obliged 
to  carry  her.  Xow  again  Zinti  wished  to  abandon  that 
heavy  child,  for  strong  though  he  was  the  weight  of  the 
two  of  them  proved  almost  more  than  he  could  bear,  but 
Suzanne  would  not  listen  to  him. 

"  Xay,"  she  said,  "  this  child  that  was  sent  to  me  by 


304  SWALLOW 

Heaven  has  saved  me  from  shame  and  death,  and  shame 
and  death  be  my  portion  if  I  will  leave  it  while  I  live.  Go 
on  alone  if  you  will,  Zinti,  and  I  will  stay  here  with  the 
child. " 

"  Truly  white  people  are  strange,"  answered  Zinti,  "  that 
they  should  wish  to  burden  themselves  with  the  child  of 
another  when  their  own  lives  are  at  stake,  but  be  it  as  you 
will,  lady,"  and  he  struggled  forward  as  best  he  could, 
carrying  the  one  and  supporting  the  other. 

Thus  for  hour  after  hour,  slowly  they  crept  onward  with 
only  the  stars  to  light  and  guide  them,  till  at  length  about 
midnight  the  moon  rose  and  they  saw  that  they  were  near 
the  foot  of  the  mountain.  Now  they  rested  awhile,  but 
not  long  enough  to  grow  stiff,  then  hastening  down  the 
slope  they  reached  the  plain,  and  headed  for  the  white- 
topped  koppie  which  shone  in  the  moonlight  some  six  miles 
away.  On  they  crept,  Suzanne  now  limping  painfully,  for 
her  ankle  had  begun  to  swell,  and  now  crawling  upon  her 
hands  and  knees,  for  Zinti  had  no  longer  the  strength  to 
carry  her  and  the  child.  Thus  they  covered  three  miles 
in  perhaps  as  many  hours.  At  last,  with  something  like 
a  sob,  Suzanne  sank  to  the  earth. 

"  Zinti,  I  can  walk  no  more,"  she  said.  "  Either  I 
must  rest  or  die." 

He  looked  at  her  and  saw  that  she  spoke  truth,  for  she 
was  quite  outworn. 

"  Is  it  so  ?  "  he  said,  "  then  we  must  stay  here  till  the 
morning,  nor  do  I  think  that  you  will  take  hurt,  for  Bull- 
Head  will  scarcely  care  to  cross  that  pass  by  night." 

Suzanne  shook  her  head  and  answered: 

"  He  will  have  begun  to  climb  it  at  the  rising  of  the 
moon.  Hear  me,  Zinti.  The  Boer  camp  is  close  and  you 
still  have  some  strength  left;  take  the  child  and  go  to  it, 


THE  PASS  OF  Till:  QUATHLAMBA  S05 

and  having  gained  an  entrance  in  this  way  or  in  that  tell 
them  my  plight  and  they  will  ride  out  and  save  me." 

"  That  is  a  good  thought,"  he  said;  "  but,  lady,  I  do 
not  like  to  leave  you  alone,  since  here  there  is  no  place  for 
you  to  hide." 

"You  could  not  help  me  if  you  stayed, Zinti, therefore  go, 
for  the  sooner  you  are  gone,  the  sooner  I  shall  be  rescued." 

"  I  hear  your  command,  lady,"  he  answered,  and  having 
given  her  most  of  the  food  that  was  left,  he  fastened  the 
sleeping  child  upon  his  shoulder  and  walked  forward  up 
the  rise. 

In  something  less  than  an  hour  Zinti  came  to  the  camp, 
which  was  formed  of  unlaagered  waggons  and  tents  pitched 
at  the  foot  of  a  koppie,  along  one  base  of  which  ran  the 
river.  About  fifty  yards  in  front  of  the  camp  stood  a 
single  buck  waggon,  and  near  to  it  still  glowed  the  embers 
of  a  cooking-fire. 

"  Now  if  I  try  to  pass  that  waggon  those  who  watch  by 
it  will  shoot  at  me,"  thought  Zinti,  though,  indeed,  he 
need  have  had  no  fear,  for  they  were  but  camp-Kaffirs  who 
slept  soundly. 

Not  knowing  this,  however,  he  stood  at  a  distance  and 
called  aloud,  till  at  last  a  Hottentot  crept  out  with  a  gun, 
and,  throwing  back  the  blanket  from  his  head,  asked  who 
he  was  and  what  he  wanted. 

"  I  want  to  see  the  Baas  of  the  camp,"  he  answered,  "  for 
my  mistress,  a  white  woman,  lies  exhausted  upon  the  veldt 
not  far  away  and  seeks  his  help." 

"  If  you  want  to  see  the  Baas,"  yawned  the  man,  "  you 
must  wait  till  daylight  when  he  wakes  up." 

"  I  cannot  wait,"  answered  Zinti.  and  he  made  as  though 
to  pass  towards  the  camp,  whereupon  the  man  raised  his 
gun  and  covered  him,  saying: 
20 


306  SWALLOW 

"  If  you  go  on  I  will  shoot  you,,  for  stray  Kaffir  dogs 
are  not  allowed  to  prowl  about  the  camp  at  night." 

"  What  then  must  I  do?  "  asked  Zinti. 

"  You  can  go  away,  or  if  you  will  you  may  sit  by  the 
waggon  here  till  it  is  light,  and  then  when  the  Boers,  my 
masters,  wake  up  you  can  tell  your  story,  of  which  I  believe 
nothing." 

So,  having  no  choice,  Zinti  sat  down  by  the  waggon  and 
waited,  while  the  man  with  the  gun  watched  him,  pretend- 
ing to  be  asleep  all  the  while. 

Now  Suzanne  was  left  alone  upon  the  great  veldt,  and 
fear  took  hold  of  her,  for  she  was  broken  in  body  and  mind, 
and  the  place  was  very  desolate;  also  she  dreaded  lest  lions 
should  take  her,  for  she  could  hear  them  roaring  in  the 
distance,  or  Swart  Piet,  who  was  worse  than  any  lion.  Still 
she  was  so  weary  that  after  washing  her  face  and  hands  in 
a  spring  close  by,  presently  she  fell  asleep.  When  she 
awoke  the  east  was  tinged  with  the  first  grey  light  of  the 
coming  dawn,  and  it  seemed  to  her  as  though  some  cold 
hand  of  fear  had  gripped  her  heart  of  a  sudden  and  aroused 
her  from  heavy  sleep.  A  sound  caused  her  to  look  up,  and 
there  on  the  crest  of  the  rise  before  her,  some  three  hun- 
dred yards  away,  she  saw  dark  forms  moving,  and  caught 
sight  of  spears  that  glimmered  in  the  moonlight. 

"  Now  there  is  an  end,"  thought  Suzanne  to  herself, 
"  for  without  doubt  yonder  stands  a  Zulu  impi;  the  same 
that  attacked  the  Umpondwana,  for  I  can  see  the  crane's 
feathers  in  their  head-dresses,"  and  she  crouched  upon  the 
ground  in  an  extremity  of  dread. 


CHAPTER    XXXIII 

RALPH    FIXDS    THE    DREAM    MOUNTAIN 

Xow  I  must  go  back  to  that  evening  when  we  learned 
the  great  tidings  from  the  lips  of  the  lad  Gaasha,  whose 
life  Ralph  had  saved  after  the  attack  by  the  Kaffirs  upon 
the  laager.  There  sat  Gaasha  on  the  ground  staring,  and 
there,  not  far  away,  Ralph  was  lying  in  his  swoon,  while 
Jan  and  I  looked  at  each  other  like  people  who  have  sud- 
denly beheld  a  sign  from  heaven. 

"  What  evil  magic  is  there  in  my  words,"  said  Gaasha 
presently,  "  that  they  should  strike  the  Baas  yonder  dead 
like  a  spear?  " 

"  He  is  not  dead,"  I  answered,  "  but  for  long  he  has 
sought  that  mountain  Umpondwana  of  which  you  speak. 
Tell  us  now,  did  you  hear  of  any  white  woman  dwelling 
with  the  chief tainess  Sihamba?" 

"  No,  lady,  I  heard  of  none." 

This  answer  of  Gaasha's  saddened  me,  for  I  made  sure 
that  if  so  strange  a  thing  had  happened  as  that  a  white 
woman  had  come  to  live  among  his  tribe,  the  man  who  told 
him  of  the  return  of  Sihamba  would  have  told  him  of 
this  also.  Therefore,  so  I  argued,  either  Suzanne  was  dead 
or  she  was  in  the  power  of  Piet  Van  Vooren,  or  Sihamba 
had  deserted  her,  though  this  last  I  did  not  believe.  As 
it  turned  out  afterwards,  had  not  Gaasha  been  the  stupidest 


308  SWALLOW 

of  Kaffirs,  we  should  have  been  saved  those  long  days  of 
doubt  and  trouble,  for  though  he  had  not  heard  that  Si- 
hamba  was  accompanied  by  a  white  woman,  he  had  heard 
that  she  brought  with  her  a  white  bird  to  the  mountain 
Umpondwana.  Of  course  if  he  had  told  us  this  we  should 
have  guessed  that  the  white  bird  could  be  none  other  than 
Suzanne,  whose  native  name  was  Swallow. 

Well,  we  set  about  reviving  Ralph,  which  was  done  l>y 
throwing  water  on  to  his  face.  When  he  had  found  his 
senses  again  I  prayed  him  not  to  suffer  himself  to  be 
carried  away  with  hope,  since  although  Gaasha  had  heard 
of  Sihamba,  he  had  heard  nothing  of  Suzanne. 

To  this  he  answered  that  now  when  God  had  pointed 
out  to  him  the  mountain  of  his  vision  and  in  so  strange  a 
manner,  he  had  no  fear  but  that  he  would  find  his  wife 
upon  it,  since  God  was  merciful  and  did  not  desire  to  mock 
or  torment  His  servants. 

I  replied  that  I  trusted  it  might  be  so,  but  the  ways  of 
the  Almighty  were  beyond  our  understanding,  nor  did  it 
become  us  to  pass  judgment  upon  them.  Ralph  scarcely 
heeded  my  words,  but,  springing  to  his  feet,  said: 

"  Come,  let  us  be  going  to  the  mountain  Umpondwana." 

"  First  we  must  consult  with  the  commandant  and  get 
aid  from  him,"  said  Jan,  "  for  it  would  not  be  safe  that  we 
should  wander  into  these  wild  places  alone,  where  there 
are  many  Kaffirs  who  doubtless  would  murder  us." 

In  his  eagerness  Ralph  would  not  listen  to  this,  for  he 
desired  to  start  at  once.  But  I  pointed  out  to  him  that  we 
had  no  horses,  all  ours  being  dead  of  the  sickness;  more- 
over, that  the  night  was  dark,  and  we  could  not  trek  till 
the  moon  rose,  so  at  length  he  consented.  Then  we  went 
into  the  laager,  and  Jan  called  the  older  men  together  in 
a  quiet  place. 


RALPH  FINDS  THE  DREAM  MOUNTAIN        309 

"What  is  it,  Heer  Botmar?"  asked  the  commandant 
when  they  were  assembled. 

"  It  is  this,  cousin,"  said  Jan.  "  I  desire  to  ask  you  to 
go  a  three  days'  trek  out  of  your  march  to  a  mountain 
called  Umpondwana,  whither  this  servant  of  mine,  Gaasha, 
can  guide  you." 

"  For  what  reason  ?  "  asked  the  commandant  astonished. 

"  Friend,"  said  Jan,  "  you  have  all  of  you  heard  the 
story  of  how  that  outcast  devil  Piet  Van  Vooren,  stole  away 
my  only  child,  Suzanne,  the  wife  of  Ealph  Kenzie  the 
Englishman  here." 

"  That  is  an  old  tale,"  said  the  commandant,  "  and, 
doubtless,  the  poor  girl  is  dead  long  ago;  why  then  do  you 
speak  of  it  now,  and  what  has  it  to  do  with  your  request 
that  we  should  trek  to  the  mountain  Umpondwana?" 

"  Only  this,  cousin;  we  think  that  my  daughter  Suzanne 
is  living  there  among  the  Kaffirs,  and  we  seek  to  rescue 
her.  At  least  this  is  certain,  for  only  now  we  have  learnt 
it  from  the  lips  of  Gaasha  that  Sihamba,  her  friend  and 
servant  whom  we  believe  was  with  her,  rules  over  this 
tribe  as  chieftainess." 

"  That  may  be  so,"  said  the  commandant,  "  but  did 
Gaasha  tell  you  that  your  daughter  was  there  also?" 

"  No,"  answered  Jan. 

"  Then  how  do  you  know  it?  " 

Now  Jan  hesitated  and  turned  red  as  he  replied: 

"  AYe  know  it  because  lialph  Kenzie  here  saw  this  very 
mountain  in  a  vision  more  than  two  years  ago,  and  in 
that  vision  was  told  that  there  he  would  find  the  wife  who 
was  taken  from  him  on  his  marriage  day." 

Now,  on  hearing  this  most  of  the  Boers  broke  out  laugh- 
ing, for,  though  very  religious,  we  are  not  a  people  who 
place  faith  in  visions.  Thereupon  I  grew  angry,  and  spoke 


310  SWALLOW 

to  them  more  strongly,  perhaps,  than  I  should  have  done, 
reducing  them  to  silence,  for  they  were  all  of  them  a  little 
afraid  of  my  tongue.  Also  I  told  them  the  story  of  that 
dream  of  Ealph's,  and  of  what  had  just  passed  with  Gaasha, 
showing  them  that  there  was  more  in  it  than  they  imagined. 
After  I  had  done  Ealph  spoke  also,  saying: 

"  Friends,  doubtless  this  tale  sounds  foolish  in  your  ears; 
but  I  ask  what  has  been  my  nickname  among  you?  Has  it 
not  been  '  Man  of  the  Mountain/  because  I  have  always 
spoken  and  inquired  for  a  certain  mountain  which  had 
ridges  on  it  shaped  like  the  fingers  of  a  man's  hand,  and 
have  you  not  thought  me  mad  for  this  reason?  Now  I 
have  heard  of  such  a  mountain  and  I  have  heard  also  that 
Sihamba,  who  was  with  my  wife,  rules  there  as  chieftainess. 
Is  it  strange,  therefore,  that  I,  believing  now  as  ever  in  that 
vision,  should  wish  to  visit  this  mountain  where,  as  I  am 
sure,  I  shall  find  the  wife  that  is  lost  to  me  ?  " 

After  this  the  Boers  laughed  no  more  but  consulted 
apart  till  at  last  the  elder,  Heer  Celliers,  spoke. 

"  Heeren  Botmar  and  Kenzie,"  he  said,  "  of  all  this 
story  of  a  vision  we  can  say  little.  For  aught  we  know  it 
may  be  true,  but  if  true  then  it  is  the  work  of  magic  and  we 
will  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  Should  you  Avish  to  go  to 
seek  this  mountain  Umpondwana  you  must  go  alone,  for 
we  cannot  alter  our  plans  to  trek  there  with  you.  But  we 
counsel  you  not  to  go,  since  no  good  can  come  of  visions 
and  magic." 

When  I  heard  this  I  answered  him  back,  but  Jan  and 
Ealph  went  away,  and  presently  I  found  them  talking 
together  outside  the  laager. 

"  Let  me  go  alone."  Ealph  was  saying. 

"  Nay,"  Jan  answered,  "  I  will  accompany  you,  for 
two  are  better  than  one;  also  I  shall  not  sleep  till  I 


RALPH  FINDS  THE  DREAM  MOUNTAIN        311 

find  out  the  truth  and  know  whether  Suzanne  lives  or  is 
dead." 

"  Indeed!  and  what  is  to  become  of  me?  "  I  asked. 

"  You,  vrouw,  can  stop  with  the  neighbours  here,  and  we 
will  join  you  in  Natal." 

"  You  will  do  no  such  thing,  Jan  Botmar,"  I  answered, 
"  for  where  you  two  go  there  I  can  go.  What!  Am  I  not 
sick  also  with  love  for  my  daughter  and  anxious  to  learn 
her  fate?" 

"  As  you  will,  wife,"  answered  Jan;  "  perhaps  it  is  well 
that  we  three  should  not  separate  who  have  been  together 
always,"  and  he  went  to  see  about  the  waggon. 

As  soon  as  the  moon  rose,  which  was  about  eleven 
o'clock,  the  oxen  were  inspanned.  Before  we  started, 
however,  several  of  our  friends  came  praying  us  not  to 
venture  on  so  perilous  a  journey;  indeed,  they  threatened 
even  to  use  force  to  prevent  us,  and  I  think  would  have 
done  so  had  not  Jan  told  them  outright  that  we  were  our 
own  masters  and  free  to  go  where  we  wished.  So  they 
departed,  grieving  over  our  obstinacy,  and  little  guessing 
that  their  danger  was  far  greater  than  our  own,  since  as  it 
chanced  just  as  they  had  trekked  through  the  Van  Eeenen's 
Pass  a  few  days  later  a  Zulu  impi,  returning  from  the 
Weenen  massacres,  fell  upon  them  unawares  and  killed 
more  than  half  of  their  number  before  they  were  beaten  off. 

So  we  trekked  with  the  moon,  Gaasha  guiding  us,  and 
did  not  outspan  till  dawn.  As  I  have  said,  we  had  no 
horses,  but  never  until  I  made  that  journey  did  it  come 
home  to  me  how  slow  arc  oxen,  for  never  before  then  was  I 
in  a  hurry,  nor, indeed,  have  I  been  since  that  time.  It  is  the 
Englishmen  who  are  always  in  a  hurry,  and  that  is  one  of 
the  reasons  why  we  Boers  are  so  superior  to  them,  and 
when  we  choose  can  master  them  in  everything,  except 


312  SWALLOW 

shopkeeping,  and  especially  in  fighting.  Well,  at  the 
best  the  cattle  could  not  drag  the  waggon  over  the  roadless 
veldt  at  a  greater  rate  than  two  miles  an  hour,  or  cover 
more  than  twenty  miles  a  day  in  all.  It  was  pitiful  to  see 
Ralph's  impatience;  again  and  again  he  walked  on  and 
returned;  indeed,  had  we  allowed  it,  I  think  that  he  would 
have  pressed  forward  on  foot,  leaving  us  to  follow  in  the 
waggon. 

At  daylight  on  the  third  day  we  inspanned  as  usual,  and 
trekked  through  the  morning  mists  until  the  sun  sucked 
them  up.  Then  Gaasha,  who  was  sitting  on  the  waggon- 
box  beside  Ralph,  touched  his  shoulder,  and  pointed  before 
him.  Ralph  looked,  and  far  away  upon  the  plain  saw 
what  seemed  to  be  a  white  cloud,  above  which  towered  the 
flat  cliffs  of  a  mountain  of  red  rock. 

"  See,  Baas/'  he  said,  "  yonder  is  Umpondwana,  my 
home,  and  now  by  nightfall  I  shall  know  whether  my 
parents  are  still  alive,  or,  if  they  are  dead,  whether  they 
have  left  any  cattle  that  I  can  claim  by  law,"  and  he  began 
to  whistle  cheerfully. 

"  And  I,"  said  Ralph  aloud,  "  shall  know  whether  my 
life  is  to  be  a  heaven  or  a  hell,"  and  all  day  long,  neither 
eating  nor  drinking,  he  sat  upon  the  waggon-box  and 
stared  at  the  mountain,  not  lifting  his  eyes  from  it. 

It  was  about  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when  we 
seemed  to  be  quite  close  to  the  green  flanks  of  Umpond- 
wana, that  of  a  sudden  we  cut  a  wide  spoor  trampled  by 
thousands  of  naked  feet.  Jan  and  Gaasha  got  off  the  wag- 
gon to  examine  it,  but  Ralph  did  not  move. 

"  An  impi  has  passed  here,"  said  Jan  presently. 

"  Yes,  and  a  Zulu  impi  as  I  think,  Baas,  but  more  than 
one  whole  day  ago,"  and  Gaasha  began  to  hunt  about 


RALPH  FINDS  THE  DREAM  MOUNTAIN        313 

amongst  some  low  bushes  which  grew  near  the  trail.  Pres- 
ently he  held  up  his  hand  and  shouted,  and  Jan  ran  to  him. 

"  Look,  Baas/'  he  said,  pointing  to  a  bush. 

Jan  looked,  and  there  beneath  the  bush  lay  a  man,  a 
Zulu  soldier,  for  his  tall  grey  plume  was  still  fixed  upon 
his  head,  and  near  him  was  his  broad  assegai.  At  that 
moment  the  man,  who  was  still  alive,  although  he  was  very 
near  his  death  from  dysentery,  seemed  to  hear,  for  he  sat 
up  and  opened  his  eyes,  saying,  "  Manzie,  umlungho, 
manzie."  (Water,  white  man,  water.) 

"  Bring  a  pannikin  of  water,  here  lies  a  sick  Kaffir," 
shouted  Jan  to  Ealph,  who  was  still  seated  on  the  waggon- 
box  staring  at  the  mountain. 

Ealph  brought  the  water,  and  the  soldier  drank  it 
greedily. 

"  Who  are  you,  and  how  come  you  here?  "  asked  Jan. 

"  I  am  a  soldier  of  Dingaan,"  answered  the  man,  "  but 
when  we  were  attacking  the  little  people  on  that  mountain 
I  fell  sick.  Still  I  came  away  with  the  impi,  but  here  my 
strength  failed  me,  and  here  I  have  lain  for  a  round  of  the 
sun  and  a  round  of  the  moon.  I  begged  them  to  kill  me, 
but  my  brothers  would  not,  for  they  said  that  I  might 
recover  and  join  them." 

"  Where  have  they  gone?  "  asked  Jan. 

"  They  have  gone  to  eat  up  the  Boers  in  Natal,"  the 
Zulu  answered  in  a  hollow  voice,  his  empty  eyes  wandering 
towards  the  mountains  of  the  Quathlamba  range.  "  Yes, 
they  have  gone  to  do  the  King's  bidding  on  the  white  men, 
for  his  word  came  to  us  while  we  besieged  yonder  strong- 
hold. To-morrow  at  the  dawn  they  attack  the  little  laager 
beneath  the  white  koppie  by  the  banks  of  the  Tugela,  and 
I  must  reach  them  by  then — yes,  yes,  now  I  am  strong 
again,  and  I  shall  attack  with  them  to-morrow  at  the  dawn. 


314  SWALLOW 

Farewell,  white  men,  I  will  not  kill  you  because  you  gave 
me  the  water  which  has  made  me  strong  again/'  and,  rising 
from  the  ground,  he  grasped  his  spear  and  started  forward 
at  a  run. 

"  Stay,"  cried  Ealph.  "  I  would  question  you  as  to 
what  has  happened  on  that  mountain; "  but  the  man  did 
not  seem  to  hear  him.  For  thirty  paces  or  so  he  ran  on, 
then  suddenly  he  halted  and  saluted  with  his  spear,  crying 
in  a  loud  voice: 

"  Chief,  I  report  myself,  I  am  present." 

Next  he  stretched  his  arms  wide  and  fell  forward  upon 
his  face.  When  they  reached  him  he  was  quite  dead. 

"  This  is  a  strange  story  that  we  have  heard  about  the 
Zulus  and  the  folk  in  Natal,"  said  Jan,  rubbing  his  fore- 
head. 

"  I  think  that  the  man  was  wandering  in  his  mind," 
answered  Ralph,  "  still  there  may  be  truth  in  it;  but, 
father,"  he  added,  with  a  gasp  of  fear,  and,  catching  Jan 
by  the  arm,  "  what  has  happened  on  the  mountain  Um- 
pondwana?  The  Zulus  have  been  there,  and — what  has 
happened  on  the  mountain  ?  " 

Jan  shook  his  head,  but  did  not  answer,  for  he  knew 
too  well  what  happens  where  the  Zulu  impis  pass. 

Notwithstanding  that  Ealph  was  mad  with  impatience 
we  halted  the  waggon  for  a  few  minutes  to  take  counsel, 
and  in  the  end  decided  to  send  the  voorlooper  back  to  the 
camp  which  we  had  left  to  warn  our  friends  of  what  we 
had  learned  as  to  the  onslaught  on  our  brethren  in  Natal, 
though  we  had  small  faith  in  the  story.  But  either  the 
lad  ran  away,  or  seme  accident  befell  him,  or  he  failed 
to  find  the  Boers  who  had  already  trekked,  at  the  least  our 
message  never  reached  them,  nor  did  we  see  him  again. 
Then  we  went  on,  Gaasha  leading  the  oxen  as  quickly  as 


315 

they  could  walk.  All  that  afternoon  we  travelled  almost 
in  silence,  following  the  spoor  of  the  impi  backwards,  for 
our  hearts  were  full  of  fear.  We  met  no  man,  but  once  or 
twice  we  saw  groups  of  cattle  wandering  unherded,  and 
this  astonished  us,  giving  us  hope,  for  it  is  not  the  custom 
of  a  victorious  impi  to  leave  the  cattle  of  its  enemy  behind 
it,  though  if  the  people  of  the  Umpondwana  had  con- 
quered, it  was  strange  that  we  should  see  no  herds  with  the 
beasts. 

At  length,  within  two  hours  of  sunset,  we  passed  round 
the  shoulder  of  the  mountain  and  beheld  its  eastern  slope. 

"  It  is  the  very  place  of  my  vision,"  cried  Ralph,  and 
certainly  there  before  us  were  the  stone  ridges  shaped  like 
the  thumb  and  fingers  of  a  man,  while  between  the  thumb 
and  first  finger  gushed  the  river,  upon  the  banks  of  which 
grew  flat-topped  green-leaved  trees. 

"Onward,  onward!"  he  cried  again,  and,  taking  the 
long  waggon  whip,  he  thrashed  the  oxen  till  they  bellowed 
in  the  yokes.  But  I,  who  was  seated  beneath  the  tent  of 
the  waggon,  turned  to  look  behind  me,  and  in  the  far 
distance  saw  that  men  were  driving  herds  of  cattle  towards 
the  mountains. 

"  We  are  too  late,"  I  thought  in  my  heart,  "  for,  without 
doubt,  whether  it  be  the  Zulus  or  others,  the  place  has  been 
taken,  since  yonder  go  the  victors  with  the  cattle.  Now 
they  will  fall  iipon  us  and  kill  us.  Well,  should  God  will 
it,  so  let  it  be,  for  if  Suzanne  is  dead  indeed  I  care  little  if 
we  die  also:  and  to  Ralph  at  least  death  will  be  welcome, 
for  I  think  that  then  death  alone  can  save  him  from 
madness." 

Xow  we  had  reached  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  were 
trekking  up  them  towards  the  spot  where  it  issued  from 
the  side  of  the  mountain.  Everywhere  was  spoor,  but  wq 


316  SWALLOW 

saw  no  people,  although  here  and  there  the  vultures  were 
hissing  and  quarrelling  over  the  bones  of  a  man  or  a  beast. 

"There  has  been  war  in  this  place,"  whispered  Jan, 
"  and  now  the  peace  of  death  has  fallen  upon  it/'  but 
Ealph  only  logged  the  weary  oxen,  saying  nothing. 

At  length  they  could  drag  the  waggon  no  further,  for 
the  path  grew  too  steep  for  them,  whereupon  Ealph,  seizing 
the  first  weapon  that  came  to  hand,  which,  as  it  chanced, 
was  the  broad  assegai  that  Gaasha  had  taken  that  day  from 
the  side  of  the  dead  Zulu,  ran  forward  up  the  trail  followed 
by  Jan  and  myself.  Another  two  hundred  yards  and  the 
path  took  a  turn  which  led  to  the  entrance  of  the  first 
scherm,  the  same  that  the  Zulus  had  captured  by  forcing 
the  passage  of  the  river.  The  gateway  was  open  now,  and 
Ralph  entered. 

At  first  he  could  see  no  one,  but  presently  he  heard  a 
voice  saying: 

"Will  you  not  tell,  for  death  is  very  near  you?  Drink, 
witch,  tell  and  drink." 

"  Fool,"  answered  another  voice,  a  grating,  broken  voice, 
"  I  say  that  death  is  near  to  both  of  us,  and  since  she  is 
saved  I  die  gladly,  taking  my  secret  with  me." 

"  Then,  witch,  I  will  try  steel,"  said  the  first  voice. 

Now  Ealph  looked  over  the  rock  from  behind  which  the 
sound  of  voices  came  and  saw  the  body  of  a  little  woman 
tied  to  a  stone  by  the  edge  of  the  water,  while  over  her 
leant  a  man,  a  white  man,  holding  a  knife  in  one  hand 
and  in  the  other  a  gourd  of  water,  which  he  now  placed 
close  to  her  lips,  and  now  withdrew  from  them.  He  knew 
that  woman,  it  was  Sihamba.  Just  at  this  moment  the 
man  looked  up  and  their  eyes  met,  and  Ealph  knew  him 
also. 

It  was  Piet  Van  Vooren, 


CHAPTER    XXXIV 

THE    AVENGER    OF    BLOOD. 

FOR  a  moment  the  two  men  stood  looking  at  each  other, 
yes,  the  shedder  of  blood  and  the  avenger  of  blood  stood 
quite  still  and  silent,  and  looked  each  other  in  the  eyes,  as 
though  a  spell  had  fallen  upon  them  striking  them  into 
stone.  It  was  the  voice  of  Sihamba  that  broke  the  spell, 
and  it  issued  from  her  parched  throat  with  a  sound  like 
the  sound  of  a  death-rattle. 

"Ah!  devil  and  torturer,"  it  said,  "did  I  not  tell  you 
that  doom  was  at  hand?  Welcome,  Ralph  Kenzie,  husband 
of  Swallow." 

Then  with  a  roar  like  that  of  a  wounded  beast,  Ralph 
sprang  forward,  in  his  hand  the  uplifted  spear.  For  one 
instant  Swart  Piet  hesitated,  but  at  the  words  of  Sihamba 
a  sudden  terror  had  taken  hold  of  him  and  he  dared  not 
wait.  Like  a  startled  buck  he  turned  and  fled  up  the 
mountain,  but  as  he  passed  her  he  struck  downwards  with 
the  knife  he  held,  stabbing  Sihamba  in  the  body. 

Once  also  he  looked  round  for  help,  but  there  was  none, 
for  during  the  long  torment  of  Sihamba  all  the  black 
villains  who  served  him  had  slipped  away,  fearing  lest 
others  should  secure  their  share  of  the  stolen  cattle.  Then 
he  sped  on  up  the  pass  and  never  did  a  man  run  more 
swiftly.  But  after  him  came  one  who  was  swifter  than  he. 


318  SWALLOW 

the  light-footed,  long-limbed  Englishman  with  rage  in  his 
heart,  and  an  awful  fire  of  vengeance  blazing  in  his  eyes. 

Up  the  pass  they  ran,  leaping  over  stones  and  dead  cattle 
till  at  length  they  reached  the  tableland  at  the  top.  Here 
once  again  Van  Vooren  paused  for  an  instant,  for  he  be- 
thought him  that,  perhaps,  he  might  hold  the  mouth  of 
the  cleft  against  his  pursuer.  But  his  wicked  heart  was  too 
full  of  fear  to  let  him  stay,  so  at  full  speed  he  set  forward 
across  the  plain,  heading  for  that  chair  rock  where  still  sat 
the  whitened  corpse,  for  there  he  thought  he  could  defend 
himself.  Ealph  followed  him  somewhat  more  slowly,  for 
of  a  sudden  he  had  grown  cold  and  cunning,  and,  knowing 
that  his  foe  could  not  escape  him,  he  desired  to  save  his 
breath  for  the  last  struggle. 

For  six  hundred  yards  or  more  they  ran  thus,  and  when 
Van  Vooren  began  to  climb  the  pedestal  of  rock  Ealph 
was  fifty  paces  behind  him.  Presently  he  also  reached  the 
pedestal  and  paused  to  look.  Already  Swart  Piet  was 
standing  by  the  stone  chair,  but  it  was  not  at  him  that  he 
looked,  but  rather  at  the  figure  which  was  tied  in  the 
chair  that  he  now  saw  for  the  first  time.  That  figure  no 
longer  sat  upright,  draped  in  its  white  fur  cloak,  for  it 
had  been  disturbed,  as  I  shall  tell  presently,  and  the  cloak 
was  half  torn  from  it.  Now  it  hung  over  the  arm  of  the 
chair,  the  ghastly  white  face  looking  down  towards  Ralph 
and  beneath  it  the  bare  black  breast. 

Ealph  stared,  wondering  what  this  might  mean.  Then 
the  answer  to  the  riddle  flashed  into  his  mind,  and  he 
laughed  aloud,  for  here  he  saw  the  handiwork  of  Sihamba. 
Yes,  that  grisly  shape  told  him  that  his  love  still  lived  and 
that  it  was  to  win  the  secret  of  her  whereabouts  that  the 
devil  above  him  had  practised  torment  upon  the  little 
doctoress. 


THE  AVENGER  OF  TiLOOD  319 

Ralph  laughed  aloud  and  began  to  climb  the  pinnacle. 
He  might  have  waited  till  Jan,  who  was  struggling  up  the 
pass  after  them,  arrived  with  his  gun,  but  he  would  not 
wait.  He  had  no  fear  of  the  man  above  and  he  was  certain 
of  the  issue  of  the  fray,  for  he  knew  that  God  is  just.  As 
for  that  man  above,  he  grinned  and  gibbered  in  his  dis- 
appointed rage  and  the  agony  of  his  dread;  yes,  he  stood 
there  by  the  painted  corpse  and  gibbered  like  an  ape. 

"  Your  evil  doing  has  not  prospered  over  much,  Piet 
Van  Vooren,"  called  Ralph,  "  and  presently  when  you  are 
dead  you  will  taste  the  fruits  of  it.  Suzanne  shall  be  mine 
till  the  end  as  she  was  mine  from  the  beginning,  but  look 
upon  the  Death-wife  that  your  wickedness  has  won,"  and 
he  pointed  at  the  body  with  his  spear. 

Black  Piet  made  no  answer,  nor  did  Ralph  speak  any 
more,  for  he  must  set  himself  to  finish  his  task.  The  Boer 
took  a  heavy  stone  and  threw  it  at  him,  but  it  missed  him 
and  he  could  find  no  more.  Then  gripping  the  wrist  of 
the  corpse  in  his  left  hand  to  steady  himself  upon  that 
giddy  place,  he  leant  forward  and  prepared  to  stab  Ralph 
with  the  knife  as  he  set  foot  upon  the  platform.  Ralph 
saw  his  plan,  and  stopping  in  his  climb,  he  took  off  his  coat 
and  wound  it  round  his  left  arm  as  a  shield.  Then  he 
came  on  slowly,  holding  the  broad  spear  in  front  of  him. 
At  the  last  he  made  a  rush  and  reached  the  flat  space  of 
rock.  Piet  stabbed  at  him,  but  the  strength  of  the  thrust 
lost  itself  in  the  folds  of  the  coat. 

Xow  who  can  say  what  happened.  Round  and  round 
the  rock  chair  they  swung,  Van  Vooren  still  holding  fast 
to  the  arm  of  the  dead  woman  who  was  lashed  in  it.  Yes, 
even  from  where  I  stood  five  hundred  feet  below  I  could 
see  the  flash  of  spear  and  knife  as  they  struck  and  struck 
again. 


320  SWALLOW 

At  length  a  blow  went  home;  the  Zulu  assegai  sank  deep 
into  Van  Vooren's  chest  and  he  hung  backwards  over  the 
edge  of  the  abyss,  supported  only  by  his  grip  of  the  dead 
arm — from  below  it  looked  as  though  he  were  drawing 
the  corpse  to  him  against  its  will.  Yes,  he  hung  back  and 
groaned  aloud.  Ealph  looked  at  him  and  laughed  again, 
since  though  he  was  gentle-hearted,  for  this  man  he  had 
no  pity.  He  laughed,  and  crying  "  That  curse  of  God  you 
mocked  at  falls  at  last,"  with  a  sudden  stroke  he  drew  the 
sharp  edge  of  the  spear  across  the  lashing  that  held  the 
body  to  the  seat. 

The  rimpi  parted,  and  with  a  swift  and  awful  rush,  like 
that  of  a  swooping  bird,  the  dead  woman  and  the  living 
man  plunged  headlong  into  space.  One  dreadful  yell 
echoed  down  the  pitiless  precipices,  followed  presently  by 
a  soft  thudding  sound,  and  there,  lodged  upon  a  flat  rock 
hundreds  of  feet  beneath,  lay  what  had  been  Piet  Van 
Vooren,  though,  indeed,  none  could  have  told  that  it 
was  he. 

Thus  ended  the  life  of  this  man,  this  servant  of  the  devil 
upon  earth,  and  even  now,  after  all  these  years,  I  can  find 
but  one  excuse  for  him,  that  the  excess  of  his  own  wicked- 
ness had  made  him  drunk  and  mad.  Yes,  I  believe  that  he 
who  wras  always  near  to  it,  went  quite  mad  when  Ealph 
struck  him  with  the  whip  after  the  fight  by  the  sheep  kraal, 
mad  with  hate  of  Ealph  and  love  of  Suzanne.  Also  his 
father  was  wicked  before  him,  and  he  had  Kaffir  blood  in 
his  veins.  Ah!  for  how  much  must  our  blood  be  called 
upon  to  answer,  and  how  good  is  that  man  who  can  conquer 
the  natural  promptings  of  his  blood! 

Jan  and  I  were  following  Ealph  when  he  entered  the 
river  scherm,  and  reached  it  just  in  time  to  see  pursued 


THE  AVENGER   OF  BLOOD  321 

and  pursuer  vanishing  up  the  narrow  cleft.  I  caught  sight 
of  Van  Vooren's  back  only,  but  although  I  had  not  seen 
him  for  years,  I  knew  it  at  once. 

"  We  have  found  the  tiger  at  home/'  I  said,  "  yonder 
goes  Swart  Piet." 

"  Allemachter!  it  is  so,"  answered  Jan.  "  Look,  there 
lies  the  tiger's  prey,"  and  pointing  to  Sihamba  he  followed 
them  up  the  mountain  side  as  fast  as  his  weight  would 
allow,  for  in  those  days  Jan  was  a  very  heavy  man. 

Meanwhile  I  made  my  way  to  the  little  figure  that  was 
stretched  upon  the  rock  at  the  edge  of  the  river.  She  had 
fainted,  but  even  before  I  reached  her  I  saw  from  her  small 
size  and  the  strange  hoop  of  stiff  hair  that  she  wore  about 
her  head,  that  it  was  none  other  than  Sihamba,  Sihamba 
whom  I  had  last  seen  upon  the  eve  of  that  unlucky  mar- 
riage day. 

But  oh!  she  was  sadly  changed.  One  of  her  legs,  I 
forget  which,  had  been  broken  by  a  gunshot;  the  blood 
trickled  from  the  wound  where  Van  Vooren  had  stabbed 
her  in  the  back;  her  little  body  was  wasted  by  the  want  of 
water,  and  her  face  had  shrunk  to  the  size  of  that  of  a 
small  child,  although  strangely  enough  it  still  was  pretty. 
I  knelt  down  by  her,  and  placing  my  hand  upon  her  heart 
felt  that  it  still  beat,  though  very  slowly.  Then  I  took 
water  and  sprinkled  it  upon  her,  and  at  the  touch  of  it  she 
opened  her  eyes  at  once. 

"  Give  me  to  drink,"  she  moaned,  and  I  did  so,  pouring 
the  water  down  her  throat,  which  was  ridged  and  black 
like  a  dog's  palate.  Her  eyes  opened  and  she  knew  me. 

"  Greeting,  mother  of  Swallow,"  she  said,  "  you  come  in 
a  good  hour,  for  now  I  shall  be  able  to  tell  you  all  before 
T  die,  and  I  am  glad  that  I  was  strong  enough  to  endure 
the  torment  of  thirst  for  so  many  hours." 
21 


822  SWALLOW 

11  Tell  me  one  thing,  Sihnmba,"  I  said.  "  Does  Suzanne 
live,  and  is  she  safe  ?  " 

"  Yes,  she  lives,  and  I  hope  that  this  night  she  will  be 
safe  with  your  own  people,  the  Boers,  for  she  has  crossed 
the  mountains  to  seek  shelter  in  that  laager  which  is  by  the 
white-topped  koppie  near  the  banks  of  the  Tugela  in 
Natal." 

"  The  laager  by  the  white-topped  koppie —  "  I  gasped. 
"  Oh,  my  God!  that  must  be  the  camp  which  the  Zulus 
attack  to-morrow  at  the  dawn." 

"  What  do  you  say?  "  Sihamba  asked. 

In  a  few  words  I  told  her  the  tale  that  we  had  heard 
from  the  dying  soldier,  and  she  listened  eagerly. 

"  I  fear  it  must  be  true,"  she  said,  when  I  had  finished, 
"  for  while  he  was  tormenting  me  Bull-Head  let  it  fall  that 
Dingaan's  regiments  had  gone  hence  by  order  of  the  King 
to  make  war  upon  the  Boers  in  Natal,  but  I  took  little 
heed,  thinking  that  he  lied. 

"  Well,"  she  went  on  after  resting  a  while,  "  they  may  be 
beaten  off,  or — stay,  in  the  glade  yonder  is  the  great  scliim- 
mel  horse;  Bull-Head's  people  brought  him  down  for  him 
and  I  know  that  hours  ago  he  has  been  well  fed  and 
watered.  If  her  husband  mounts  him  at  sunset,  he  can 
be  with  the  Swallow  in  the  laager  well  before  the  dawn, 
in  time  to  warn  them  all.  Presently,  when  he  returns  from 
killing  Bull-Head,  I  will  show  him  the  road,  for  I  shall 
live  till  sunset.  Give  me  more  water,  I  pray  you." 

Now  I  saw  that  nothing  could  be  done  till  Ralph  and 
Jan  returned,  if  they  ever  should  return,  so  I  prayed  of 
Sihamba  to  tell  me  what  had  passed,  for  I  saw  that  she 
could  not  live  long,  and  desired  to  know  the  truth  before 
she  died.  And  she  told  me,  with  many  rests  and  at  no 
great  length  indeed,  but  very  clearly,  and  as  I  listened  I 


TlfK  AVKA'fJKR   OF  HLOOD  323 

marvelled  more  and  more  at  this  Kaffir  woman's  love, 
faithfulness,  and  courage.  At  last  she  came  to  the  tale  of 
how  she  had  disguised  Suzanne,  and  set  up  the  corpse  in 
her  place  in  the  chair  of  rock. 

"  Step  but  a  few  paces  there  to  the  right,"  she  said,  "and 
you  will  see  it." 

I  did  as  she  hade  me,  and  then  it  was  that  on  looking 
upwards  I  saw  Kalph  and  Swart  Piet  struggling  together. 
They  were  so  high  above  me  that  their  shapes  seemed  small, 
but  I  could  sec  the  light  flashing  from  the  stabbing  steel 
and  I  called  out  to  Sihamba  what  I  saw. 

"  Have  no  fear,  lady,"  she  answered,  "  it  will  only  end 
one  way."  So  indeed  it  did  end  as  has  been  told,  for 
presently  Van  Vooren  and  the  corpse  rushed  downwards 
to  vanish  in  the  abyss,  while  Ralph  remained  standing  by 
the  empty  chair  of  stone. 

"'  It  is  finished,"  I  said,  returning  to  Sihamba. 

"'I  know  it,  lady,"  she  answered.  "'  Bull-Head's  last  cry 
reached  my  ears,  and  do  you  give  thanks  to  the  Spirit  you 
worship  that  lie  is  dead.  You  wished  to  know  what  hap- 
pened after  the  Swallow  and  I  parted.  Well,  I  went  and 
stood  by  the  body  071  the  pinnacle  of  rock,  and  there,  as  I 
expected,  came  Bull-Head  to  reek  his  captive.  He  com- 
manded us  to  come  down,  but  T  refused,  telling  him  that 
if  he  attempted  to  take  the  Swallow — for  he  thought  that 
the  body  wrapped  in  the  white  cloak  was  she — she  would 
certainly  escape  him  by  hurling  herself  from  the  cliff. 
Thus  T  gained  much  time,  for  now  from  my  height  T  could 
see  her  whom  I  knew  to  be  the  lady  Swallow  travelling 
across  the  plain  towards  the  saw-edge  rock,  although  T  was 
puzzled  because  she  seemed  to  carry  a  child  upon  her  back; 
but  perhaps  it  was  a  bundle. 

"  At  last  he  grew  impatient,  and  without  warning  lifted 


324  SWALLOW 

his  gun  and  fired  at  me,  aiming  low,  for  he  feared  lest  the 
ball  should  pierce  my  mistress.  The  shot  struck  my  leg 
where  you  see,  and  being  unable  to  stop  myself,  although  I 
broke  my  fall  by  clutching  with  my  hands,  I  rolled  down 
the  rock  to  the  ground  beneath,  but  not  over  the  edge  of 
the  precipice  as  I  could  have  wished  to  do,  for  at  the  last 
I  had  intended  to  escape  him  by  throwing  myself  from  it. 

"  Leaving  me  unable  to  move  he  began  to  ascend  the 
pinnacle,  calling  your  daughter  Swallow  by  sweet  names 
as  a  man  calls  a  shy  horse  which  he  fears  will  escape  him. 
I  watched  from  below,  and  even  in  my  pain  I  laughed,  for 
now  I  knew  what  must  come.  Since  the  Swallow  did  not 
answer,  Bull-Head,  wishing  to  be  cunning,  crept  behind 
her  in  silence,  and  of  a  sudden  seized  the  cloak  and  the 
arm  beneath  it,  for  he  feared  lest  she  should  choose  death 
and  cheat  him. 

"  Then  it  was  that  the  body  rolled  over  toward  him; 
then  it  was  that  he  saw  the  whitened  face  and  the  black 
breast  beneath.  Ah!  lady,  you  should  have  heard  his  oaths 
and  his  yell  of  rage  as  he  scrambled  down  the  rocks  towards 
me. 

"'What  think  you  of  your  bride?'  I  asked  him  as  he 
came,  for  I  knew  that  1  must  die  and  did  not  care  how 
soon. 

"  '  This  is  your  trick,  witch/  he  gasped,  '  and  now  I  will 
kill  you.' 

"'Kill  on,  butcher/  T  answered,  'at  least  I  shall  die 
happy,  having  beaten  you  at  last.' 

"  '  N"o,  not  yet/  he  said  presently, '  for  if  you  grow  silent, 
how  shall  I  learn  where  you  have  hidden  Suzanne  Botmar?' 

'"  Suzanne  Kenzie,  wife  of  the  Englishman,  butcher,'  T 
answered  again. 

"'Also/  he  went  on,  grinding  his  teeth,  '  T  desire  that 


THE  AVENGER  OF  BLOOD  325 

you  should  die  slowly.'  Then  he  called  some  of  his  men, 
and  they  carried  me  in  a  kaross  to  this  place.  Here  by  the 
river  he  lashed  me  to  the  stone,  and,  knowing  that  already, 
from  loss  of  blood  and  lack  of  drink,  I  was  in  the  agonies 
of  thirst,  he  tormented  me  by  holding  water  to  my  lips  and 
snatching  it  away. 

"  All  day  long,  lying  in  the  burning  sun,  have  I  suffered 
thus,  waiting  for  death  to  heal  my  pain.  But  in  vain  did 
he  torture  and  question,  for  not  one  word  could  he  wring 
from  my  lips  as  to  where  he  should  seek  for  the  lady  Swal- 
low. He  thought  that  she  was  hidden  somewhere  on  the 
mountain,  and  sent  men  to  search  for  her  till  they  grew 
tired  and  ran  away  to  steal  the  cattle;  he  never  guessed 
that  disguised  as  a  black  woman  she  had  passed  beneath 
his  very  eyes. 

"  Yet  this  was  so,  for  I,  Sihamba,  know  it  from  the  talk 
I  overheard  between  Bull-Head  and  one  of  his  servants, 
who  had  held  her  awhile  wishing  to  take  her  for  a  wife.* 
Yes,  sbe  passed  beneath  his  eyes  and  escaped  him,  and  I — I 
have  won  the  game." 

Xow  the  effects  of  the  water,  which  for  a  little  while 
had  given  new  life  to  Sihamba,  began  to  pass  off,  and  she 
grew  weak  and  silent.  Presently  I  saw  Ralph  returning 
down  the  steep  cleft,  and  with  him  Jan,  and  went  to  meet 
them. 

"It  is  finished."  Ralph  said,  looking  at  me  with  quiet 
eyes. 

"'  I  know  it,"  I  answered,  "  but,  son,  there  is  still  work 

*  In  after  days,  when  there  was  talk  fjir  and  wide  of  the  wonderful 
escape  of  my  daughter  Suzanne,  disguised  as  u  Kaffir  woman,  the  man 
who  had  sought  to  take  her  captive  told  the  story  of  the  white  mark 
which  his  grip  left  upon  her  arm.  Tie  said,  indeed,  that  both  he  and 
Hull-Head  saw  the  mark  when  she  was  at  a  little  distance  from  them, 
bvit  believing  it  to  be  an  ivory  ring  they  took  no  heed. 


326  SWALLOW 

to  do  if  you  would  save  your  wife /'  and  I  told  him 

what  I  had  learned. 

u  The  schimmel,"  he  exclaimed,  growing  pale  to  the  lips, 
"  where  is  the  schimmel?  "  and  he  turned  to  seek  him. 

'•'  No,  no,"  I  said,  "  let  Jan  fetch  the  horse.  Come  you 
to  Sihamba,  that  she  may  show  you  the  path  before  she 
dies." 

Now  Jan  went  to  the  glade  that  I  pointed  out  to  find  the 
schimmel,  while  I  led  Ralph  to  Sihamba.  She  heard  him 
coming  and  opened  her  eyes. 

"  Welcome,  husband  of  Swallow,"  she  said,  "  you  have 
done  well  and  bravely,  yet  it  was  the  hand  of  fate  and  not 
yours  that  smote  yonder  on  the  rock  point.  Now  hearken 

— /'  and  she  told  the  road  which  he  must  follow  across 
the  Quathlamba,  if  he  would  hope  to  reach  the  white 
koppie  camp  by  dawn. 

Before  she  had  done,  for  the  dying  Sihamba  spoke  slowly 
and  with  pain,  Jan  came  leading  the  schimmel  saddled  and 
bridled,  for  Swart  Piet's  saddle  had  been  put  upon  it,  the 
mare  he  was  riding  having  been  taken  by  one  of  his  men 
whom  he  had  sent  to  drive  in  the  captured  cattle. 

The  great  roan  horse,  which  I  rejoiced  to  see  once  more, 
was  somewhat  thin,  for  he  had  lacked  water  like  the  rest, 
but  throughout  the  siege  he  had  been  well  tended  by  Si- 
hamba and  Zinti,  and  fed  with  green  corn,  and  since  that 
morning  he  had  drunk  all  he  would,  so  that  now  he  was 
strong  again  and  fit  to  run. 

"  Bring  me  the  schimmel,"  said  Sihamba,  but  there  was 
no  need,  for  the  brute  which  loved  her  now  as  always,  had 
winded  her,  and  coming  to  where  she  lay,  put  down  his 
head  and  fondled  her  with  his  black  lips.  Catching  him 
by  the  forelock,  she  drew  herself  up,  and  as  once  before  she 
had  done  when  he  swam  the  Ued  Water,  she  whispered 


THE  AVENGER   OF  BLOOD  327 

into  his  ear,  and  as  I  live  the  beast  seemed  to  listen  and 
understand. 

"  Not  I,  not  1,"  she  said  aloud  when  she  had  finished 
whispering,  "  not  I  but  the  Englishman,  yet,  Horse,  I 
think  that  I  shall  ride  you  again,  but  it  will  be  beyond 
the  darkness.  Stay  not,  stumble  not,  for  you  go  on  your 
last  and  greatest  gallop.  Speed  like  the  swallow  to  save 
the  Swallow,  for  so  shall  you  live  on  when  j^our  swift  bones 
are  dust.  Now,  Englishman,  away." 

Ralph  stooped  down  and  kissed  the  woman,  the  angel 
whom  God  had  sent  to  save  him  and  his,  and  with  her 
dying  lips  she  blessed  him  and  Suzanne,  prophesying  to 
them  life  and  joy.  Then  he  leapt  into  the  saddle,  and  with 
a  snort  and  quick  shake  of  its  head  the  scMmmcl  plunged 
forward  in  the  red  glow  of  the  sunset. 

Sihamba  leaned  against  the  rock  and  watched  the  light 
pass.  As  its  last  ray  fell  upon  her  quivering  face,  she 
lifted  her  arms  and  cried,  "  Swallow,  I  have  kept  my  oath. 
Swallow,  I  have  served  you  well  and  saved  you.  Sister, 
forget  me  not." 

With  these  words  upon  her  lips  Sihamba  Ngenyanga 
died:  yes,  she  and  the  daylight  died  together,  while  Jan 
and  I  stood  over  her  and  wept. 


CHAPTER    XXXV 

THE  SCHIMMEL'S  LAST  KACE 

RALPH  cleared  the  mountain  slope,  but  before  he  had 
covered  a  mile  of  way  the  darkness  began  to  fall,  till  pres- 
ently the  night  was  black.  Now  he  must  ride  slowly, 
steering  his  path  by  the  stars,  and  searching  the  dim  out- 
line of  the  mountains  with  his  eyes. 

But  search  as  he  would  Ealph  could  not  see  the  saw- 
edged  rock.  He  reached  the  range  indeed,  and  for  hour 
after  hour  roamed  up  and  down  it,  his  heart  torn  with 
helpless  haste  and  fears,  but  it  was  of  no  use,  so  at  last  he 
dismounted,  and  holding  the  schimmel  by  the  bridle  al- 
lowed him  to  eat  a  little  grass  while  he  waited  for  the  moon 
to  rise.  Oh!  never  was  the  moon  so  long  in  coming,  but 
at  length  it  came,  and  with  it  clear,  soft  light.  He  looked, 
and  there,  not  half  a  mile  away,  just  showing  in  the 
shadows,  was  the  saw-edged  rock  he  sought. 

"  There  is  little  time  to  lose,"  Ralph  muttered  to  himself 
as  the  stallion  swept  across  the  plain  towards  the  rock. 
"  In  three  hours  it  will  be  dawn,  and  these  mountains  are 
sheer  and  wide." 

Now  he  was  in  the  pass  and  galloping  up  its  rocky  steeps 
as  fast  as  the  horse  dare  travel  and  not  fall.  Up  he  went 
through  the  moonlit  silence  that  was  broken  only  by  the 
distant  roaring  of  lions;  up  for  one  hour  and  for  two.  Now 


THE  SCIim MEL'S  LAST  RACE  329 

he  was  at  the  crest  of  the  mountains,  and  beneath  him,  miles 
away,  lay  the  dim  veldt,  and  there — yes,  there  in  the  far 
distance — the  moonbeams  sparkled  upon  a  white-topped 
koppie  and  the  waters  of  a  river  that  washed  its  base. 
Miles  and  miles  away,  and  but  one  hour  left  to  cover  them. 
One  short  hour,  and  if  it  was  not  enough  then  death  by 
the  Zulu  assegai  would  be  the  portion  of  Suzanne  and  of 
those  among  whom  she  sheltered.  For  a  moment  Kalph 
breathed  the  horse,  then  he  shook  the  reins,  and  with  a 
snort  of  pride  the  scliimmel  started  upon  his  last  gallop. 

Ah!  what  a  ride  was  that.  Had  ever  man  the  like  of  it? 
Hushing  down  an  untrodden  mountain  way  swifter  than 
others  dare  travel  on  a  plain,  bounding  from  rock  to  rock 
like  a  buck,  dashing  through  streams,  and  leaping  dim 
gullies  at  a  stride.  On,  on  went  the  sc'iimmel,  with  never 
a  slip  and  never  a  stumble.  On,  swifter  than  a  sassaby 
and  surer-footed  than  a  fox;  now  the  worst  of  the  road 
was  passed,  and  a  long,  smooth  slope,  almost  free  from 
stones,  led  them  to  the  grassy  plain  beneath.  The  scliim- 
iiiel  swept  down  it  at  a  fearful  pace  and  reached  the  level 
land  in  safety,  but  the  strain  of  that  mad  gallop  told  its 
tale  upon  him,  for  he  was  drenched  with  sweat,  his  eye  was 
red  with  blood,  and  the  breath  whistled  in  his  throat. 

"Ralph  raised  himself  in  his  stirrups  and  scanned  the  sky, 
which  began  to  brighten  with  the  coining  dawn. 

"There  is  time,"  he  muttered,  "for  the  koppie  is  near, 
and  the  Zulus  will  not  attack  till  they  can  see  the  white 
moons  upon  their  finger  nails." 

Xow  he  was  speeding  up  a  long  rise,  for  here  the  land 
lies  in  waves  like  a  frozen  sea.  He  topped  it,  and  in  an 
instant — almost  before  he  saw  them — lie  had  swept 
through  a  Zulu  impi  marching  stealthily  in  a  triple  line 
with  companies  thrown  forward  to  the  right  and  left.  They 


330  SWALLOW 

shouted  in  astonishment,  but  before  they  could  harm  him 
or  the  horse  he  was  out  of  reach  of  their  spears  and  gallop- 
ing forward  with  a  glad  heart,  for  now  he  thought  the 
danger  done  with. 

Down  the  slope  he  thundered,  and  the  sound  of  his 
horse's  hoofs  came  to  the  ears  of  Suzanne,  who,  frozen 
with  terror,  crouched  in  the  grass  near  the  spring  at  the 
foot  of  it.  Turning  her  eyes  from  the  ridge  where  she 
had  seen  the  Zulus,  she  looked  behind  her.  At  first  she 
could  see  nothing  except  a  great  horse  with  a  man  upon  its 
back,  but  as  she  stared,  presently  she  recognised  the  horse 
— it  was  the  schimmel,  and  none  other. 

And  the  man.  Whose  shape  was  that?  Xo,  this  one 
had  a  golden  beard.  Ah!  He  lifted  his  head,  from  which 
the  hat  had  fallen,  and — did  she  dream?  Xay,  by  Heaven, 
it  was  her  husband,  grown  older  and  bearded,  but  still  her 
husband.  In  the  piercing  agony  of  that  happiness  she 
sank  back  half-fainting,  nor  was  it  till  he  was  almost  upon 
her  that  she  could  gain  her  feet.  He  saw  her,  and  in  the 
dim  light,  mistaking  her  for  a  Zulu  soldier  who  way-laid 
him,  lifted  the  gun  in  his  hand  to  fire.  Already  he  was 
pressing  the  trigger  when — Avhen  she  found  her  voice  and 
cried  out: 

"  Ealph,  Ralph,  I  am  Suzanne,  your  wife." 

As  the  words  left  her  lips  it  seemed  to  her  as  though 
some  giant  had  thrown  the  big  horse  back  upon  its 
haunches,  for  he  slipped  past  her,  his  flanks  almost  touch- 
ing the  ground,  which  he  ploughed  with  outstretched 
hoofs.  Then  he  stopped  dead. 

"Have  I  found  you  at  last,  wife?"  cried  Ralph,  in  a 
voice  of  joy  so  strange  that  it  sounded  scarcely  human. 
Clf  Mount  swiftly,  for  the  Zulus  are  behind." 


THE  SCHIMMEL'S  LAST  RACE  331 

Tims,  then,  these  two  met  again,  not  on  the  Mountain 
of  the  Man's  Hand  indeed,  as  the  vision  had  foretold,  but 
very  near  to  it. 


Suzanne  answered,  as  she  sprang  on  to  the  sad- 
dle before  him,  "  they  are  in  front,  for  I  saw  them." 

Ralph  looked.  Yes,  there  they  were  in  front  and  to  the 
side  and  behind.  All  round  them  the  Zulu  impi  gathered 
and  thickened,  crying,  "  Bulala  umk  ncju  "  (Kill  the  white 
man)  as  they  closed  in  upon  them  at  a  run. 

"  Oh!  Ralph,  what  can  we  do?"  murmured  Suzanne. 

"  Charge  them  and  trust  to  God,"  he  answered. 

"  So  be  it,  husband,"  and,  turning  herself  upon  the  pom- 
mel of  the  saddle,  she  threw  her  arms  round  his  neck  and 
kissed  him  on  the  lips,  whispering,  "  At  least  we  have  met 
again,  and  if  we  die  it  shall  be  together." 

"  Hold  fast,"  said  Ralph,  and  calling  aloud  to  the  horse 
he  set  his  teeth  and  charged. 

By  now  the  Zulus  in  front  were  running  down  the 
opposing  slope  in  clusters  not  much  more  than  a  hundred 
yards  away;  indeed,  the  space  between  them  was  so  narrow 
that  the  schimmel,  galloping  up  hill  under  his  double  load, 
could  scarcely  gather  speed  before  they  were  among  them. 
When  they  were  within  ten  yards  Ralph  held  out  the  gun 
in  one  hand  and  fired  it,  killing  a  man.  Then  he  cast  it 
away  as  useless,  and  placing  his  right  arm  about  the  waist 
of  Suzanne,  he  bent  his  body  over  her  to  protect  her  if  he 
might,  urging  on  the  horse  with  feet  and  voice. 

]S"ow  they  were  in  them  and  ploughing  through  their 
ever-thickening  ranks,  throwing  their  black  bodies  to  this 
side  and  to  that  as  a  ship  throws  the  water  from  its  bows. 
Here,  there,  everywhere  spears  flashed  and  stabbed,  but  as 
yet  they  were  unhurt,  for  the  very  press  saved  them,  al- 


332  SWALLOW 

though  an  assegai  was  quivering  in  the  flank  of  the  schim- 
mel.  Ah!  a  pang  as  of  the  touch  of  red-hot  iron  and  a 
spear  had  pierced  Ealph's  left  shoulder,  remaining  fast  in 
the  wound.  Still  lower  he  bent  his  body  till  his  head  was 
almost  hidden  in  the  flowing  mane  of  the  scMmmel,  but 
now  black  clutching  hands  caught  feet  and  bridle  rein,  and 
slowly  the  great  horse  lost  way  and  stopped.  A  tall  Zulu 
stabbed  it  in  the  chest,  and  Ealph  gasped,  "  It  is  over!  " 

But  it  was  not  over,  for,  feeling  the  pain  of  this  new 
wound,  of  a  sudden  the  stallion  went  mad.  He  shrieked 
aloud  as  only  a  horse  can  shriek,  and  laying  back  his  ears 
till  his  face  was  like  the  face  of  a  wolf,  he  reared  up  on 
his  hind  legs  and  struck  out  with  his  hoofs,  crushing  the 
skulls  and  bodies  of  his  tormentors.  Down  he  came  again, 
and  with  another  scream  rushed  open-mouthed  at  that 
man  who  had  stabbed  him;  his  long  white  teeth  gripped 
him  across  the  body  where  the  ribs  end,  and  then  the  awful 
sight  was  seen  of  a  horse  holding  in  his  mouth  a  man  who 
yelled  in  agony,  and  plunging  forward  with  great  bounds 
while  he  shook  him  to  and  fro,  as  a  dog  will  shake  a  rat.* 

Yes,  he  shook  and  shook  till  the  flesh  gave,  and  the  man 
fell  dying  on  the  veldt.  Again  the  furious  beast  opened 
his  jaws  from  which  gore  dripped  and  rushed  upon  another, 
but  this  one  did  not  wait  for  him — none  waited.  To  the 
Zulus  in  those  days  a  horse  was  a  terrible  wild  beast,  and 
this  was  a  beast  indeed,  that  brave  as  they  were  they  dared 
not  face. 

*' It  is  a  devil!  and  wizards  ride  it,"  they  cried,  as  they 
opened  a  path  before  its  rush. 

They  were  through,  and  behind  them  like  the  voice  of 

*  Tlio  reader  may  think  this  incident  scarcely  credible,  but  for  an 
authenticated  instance  of  such  behaviour  on  the  part  of  ahorse  he  may 
be  referred  to  the  "  Memoirs  of  General  Marbot." 


THE  SCHIMMEL'S  LAST  RACE  333 

hounds  that  hunt  swelled  the  cry  of  the  war-dogs  of  Din- 
gaan.  They  were  through  and  living  yet,  though  one 
broad  banywan  was  fast  in  lialph's  shoulder,  and  another 
stood  in  the  scliimmeVs  chest. 

Not  two  miles  away  rose  the  koppie.  "  The  horse  will 
die,"  thought  Ualph  as  he  drew  Suzanne  closer  to  him, 
and  gripped  the  saddle  with  his  knees.  Indeed,  he  was 
dying;  yet  never  since  he  was  a  colt  did  the  schimmel 
cover  two  miles  of  plain  so  fast  as  those  that  lay  between 
the  impi  and  the  camp.  Slowly  and  surely  the  spear 
worked  its  way  into  his  vitals,  hut  stretching  out  his  head, 
and  heedless  of  his  burden,  he  rushed  on  with  the  speed 
of  a  racer. 

The  Boers  in  the  laager  were  awake  at  last,  the  sound  of 
the  gun  and  the  war-cry  of  the  Zulus  had  reached  them 
faintly.  Half-clad,  men  and  women  together,  they  stood 
upon  their  waggon-boxes  looking  towards  the  west.  Be- 
hind them  the  pencils  of  daylight  were  creeping  across  the 
sky,  and  presently  in  their  low  rays  they  saw  such  a  sight 
as  they  would  never  see  again.  Fast,  fast  towards  t-hem 
thundered  a  great  roan  horse,  blood  dripping  from  his 
chest,  and  jaws,  and  flank,  and  on  its  back  a  yellow-bearded 
man,  in  whose  shoulder  stood  a  spear,  and  who  held  in 
front  of  him  a  fainting  woman. 

"  Soon  he  will  fall  suddenly,  and  we  shall  be  crushed,*' 
thought  TJalph.  and  had  the  horse  died  while  travelling 
at  that  speed  it  must  have  been  so.  But 'he  did  not.  When 
within  fifty  yards  of  the  laager  suddenly  he  began  to  lurch 
and  roll  in  his  stride:  then  with  three  bounds  he  stopped, 
and  standing  still,  looked  round  with  piteous  blood-shot 
eyes,  and  whinnied  faintly  as  though  he  heard  some  voice 
that  he  knew  and  loved. 


&J4  H  WALLOW 

Ralph  slipped  from  his  back,  dragging  Suzanne  after 
him,  and  watched. 

For  a  moment  the  scliimmel  stood,  his  head  touching  the 
ground,  till  presently  a  bloody  foam  came  upon  his  mouth, 
;.nd  blood  poured  from  his  eyes  and  ears.  Now  for  the 
last  time  he  arched  his  neck  and  shook  his  mane,  then 
rearing  straight  up  on  his  hind  legs  as  he  had  done  when 
he  beat  down  the  Zulus,  he  pawed  the  air  with  his  fore 
feet  and  fell  over  upon  his  back  to  move  no  more. 

Suzanne  had  fainted,  and  Ralph  carried  her  to  the  camp. 
There  they  drew  out  the  spear  from  his  shoulder  and 
tended  them  both,  though  beyond  gasping  the  words  "  Pre- 
pare, for  the  Zulus  are  upon  you,"  it  was  long  before  either 
of  them  could  speak. 

Yes,  yes,  they  beat  off  the  impi  with  the  loss  of  only 
one  man,  but  Ralph  took  no  part  in  that  fight.  Indeed, 
when  we  joined  them  four  days  later,  for  after  burying 
Sihamba  Jan  and  I  trekked  round  through  the  waggon 
pass,  by  the  mercy  of  Heaven  escaping  the  Zulus,  they 
still  lay  prostrate  on  a  cartel,  clasping  each  other's  hands 
and  smiling,  but  speaking  little.  The  Boers,  being  warned 
and  awake,  beat  off  the  Zulus  with  great  loss  to  Dingaan, 
for  they  had  the  waggons  in  front,  the  koppie  behind,  and 
the  river  to  one  side. 

But  there  were  many  on  that  dreadful  night  whom  no 
schimmel  galloped  to  warn.  Ah!  God,  six  hundred  of 
them,  men  and  women,  maids  and  children,  and  little 
babies  at  the  breast,  went  down  beneath  the  Zulu  assegai 
in  that  red  dawn.  Six  hundred  of  them  slaughtered! 

Is  not  the  name  of  the  land  Weenen — "  The  Land  of 
Weeping  " — to  this  day? 

We  avenged  them  at  the  battle  of  the  Blood  River  in- 


THE  fXmntMEUK  LAST  RACE  3i5 

deed;  but  could  vengeance  give  us  back  their  lives  which  it 
had  pleased  the  Lord  to  take  thus  fearfully? 

So,  so,  that  is  the  end  of  my  story  of  the  forgotten  by- 
gone years.  As  I,  old  Suzanne  Botmar,  tell  it  the  shadow 
of  that  white-topped  koppie  falls  upon  this  house  and  be- 
neath my  feet  is  the  very  spot  where  the  brave  scliimmel 
died.  Ealph  and  Jan  would  not  leave  it — no,  not  even 
when  the  British  hoisted  their  flag  in  Xatal,  making  us 
English  again  after  all  that  we  had  undergone  to  escape 
their  usurping  rule.  We  suffered  much  at  that  event,  Jan 
and  I,  but  though  he  said  nothing,  for  indeed  he  did  not 
dare  to  in  my  presence,  I  believe  that  Ealph  did  not  suffer 
at  all.  Well,  he  was  of  English  blood  and  it  was  natural 
that  he  should  like  his  own  flag  best,  though  to  this  day 
I  am  very  angry  with  my  daughter  Suzanne,  who,  for  some 
reason  or  other,  would  never  say  a  hard  word  of  the  ac- 
cursed British  Government — or  listen  to  one  if  she  could 
help  it. 

Yet,  to  be  just,  that  same  Government  has  ruled  us  well 
and  fairly,  though  I  never  could  agree  with  their  manner 
of  dealing  with  the  natives,  and  our  family  has  grown 
rich  under  its  shadow.  Yes,  we  were  rich  from  the  begin- 
ning, for  Ralph  and  some  Boers  fetched  back  the  cattle 
of  Suzanne  and  Sihamba  which  Swart  Piet's  thieves  had 
stolen,  and  they  were  a  very  great  herd. 

For  many  long  and  happy  years  after  all  these  events 
that  I  have  told  of  did  Ralph  and  Suzanne  live  together, 
till  at  last  God  took  my  child  Suzanne  as  she  began  to 
grow  old.  From  that  day  life  had  no  joys  for  Ralph,  or 
indeed  for  any  of  us,  and  he  fought  with  the  English 
against  Cetywayo  at  Isandlhwana,  and  fell  there  bravely, 
be  and  his  son  together,  for  his  son's  wife,  an  English- 
woman of  good  blood  was  dead  also  in  childbirth. 


aSG  RW ALLOW 

Then  all  the  world  grew  dark  for  Jan  and  me,  but  now 
in  my  extreme  age  once  more  it  lightens  like  the  dawn. 

0  God,  who  am  1  that  i  should  complain?  Nay,  nay, 
to  Thee,  Almighty  God,  be  praise  and  thanks  and  glory. 
Quite  soon  I  must  fall  asleep,  and  how  rich  and  plentiful 
is  that  store  which  awaits  me  beyond  my  sleep;  that  store 
of  friends  and  kindred  who  have  passed  me  in  the  race 
and  won  the  immortal  crown  of  peace,  which  even  now 
their  dear  hands  prepare  for  me.  Therefore  to  Thee, 
Maker  of  the  world,  be  praise  and  thanks  and  glory.  Yes, 
let  all  things  praise  Thee  as  do  my  aged  lips. 

N"OTE  BY  THK  BARONESS  GLENTHIRSK, 
FORMERLY  KNOWN  AS  SUZANNE  KENZIE. 

IT  is  something  over  three  years  since  my  great-grand- 
mother, the  Vrouw  Suzanne  Botmar,  finished  dictating  to 
me  this  history  of  her  early  days  and  of  my  grandparents, 
Ralph  Kenzie,  the  English  castaway,  and  Suzanne  Botmar, 
her  daughter.  Xow,  if  it  be  only  as  an  instance  of  the 
wonderful  workings  of  fate,  or,  as  I  prefer  to  call  it,  of 
Providence,  I  add  this  note  to  her  narrative.  As  I  write 
there  stretches  before  me,  not  the  bushy  veldt  of  Weenen 
in  Natal  cut  by  the  silver  line  of  the  Tugela,  but  a  vast 
prospect  of  heather-clad  mountains,  about  whose  feet 
brawls  a  salmon  river.  For  this  is  Scotland,  and  I  sit  in 
the  castle  of  Glenthirsk,  while  on  the  terrace  beneath  my 
window  passes  my  little  son,  who,  if  he  lives,  will  one  day 
be  lord  of  it.  But  I  will  tell  the  story,  which  is  indeed 
a  strange  one. 

As  I  think  my  great-grandmother  has  said,  I  was  edu- 
cated at  a  school  in  Durban,  for,  although  she  was  in  many 
ways  so  j)re.judiced  and  narrow,  she  wished  that  I  should 


THE  SCHIMMEL'S  LAST  RACE  337 

be  able  to  hold  my  own  with  other  girls  in  learning  as  in 
all  things.  Also  she  knew  well  that  this  would  have  been 
the  desire  of  my  dear  father,  who  was  killed  in  the  Zulu 
war  with  his  father,  the  Ralph  Kenzie  of  the  story,  whom, 
by  the  way,  I  can  remember  as  a  handsome  grey-headed 
man.  For  my  father  was  a  thorough  Englishman,  with 
nothing  of  the  Boer  about  him,  moreover  he  married  an 
English  lady,  the  daughter  of  a  Natal  colonist,  and  for 
these  reasons  he  and  his  grandmother  did  not  get  on  very 
well. 

After  I  had  finished  my  schooling  I  used  to  stay  with 
friends  in  Durban,  the  parents  of  one  of  my  schoolfellows, 
and  it  was  at  their  house  that  I  met  my  husband,  Mr.  Ralph 
Mackenzie,  who  then  was  called  Lord  Glenthirsk,  his 
father  having  died  about  six  months  previous  to  our  ac- 
quaintance. 

Ralph,  my  husband,  was  then  quite  young,  only  three- 
and-twenty  indeed,  and  a  subaltern  in  a  Scotch  regiment 
which  was  quartered  at  Durban,  whither  it  had  come  from 
India.  As  the  term  of  this  regiment's  foreign  service  was 
shortly  to  expire,  and  as  at  the  time  there  was  a  prospect 
of  further  troubles  in  South  Africa,  my  husband  did  not 
resign  his  commission  on  succeeding  to  the  peerage,  as  his 
mother  wished  him  to  do,  for  he  said  that  this  was  a  step 
which  he  could  consider  when  the  regiment  returned  home, 
as  it  would  do  shortly. 

Well,  we  met,  and  since  we  are  now  quite  old  married 
people  I  may  as  well  admit  at  once  that  we  fell  in  love  with 
each  other,  though  to  me  it  seemed  a  marvellous  thing 
that  this  handsome  and  brilliant  young  lord,  with  his  great 
wealth  and  all  the  world  before  him,  should  come  to  care 
for  a  simple  Dutch  girl  who  had  little  to  recommend  her 
except  her  looks  (of  which  my  great-grandmother  thought, 
22 


338  SWALLOW 

or  pretended  to  think,  so  little)  and  some  small  inheritance 
of  South  African  farms  and  cattle.  Indeed,  when  at  last 
he  proposed  to  me,  begging  me  to  be  his  wife,  as  though 
I  were  the  most  precious  thing  on  the  whole  earth,  I  told 
him  so  plainly,  having  inherited  some  sense  with  my  strain 
of  Huguenot  and  Dutch  blood,  and  though  I  trembled  at 
the  risk  I  ran,  when  everything  lay  in  my  own  hand,  I 
refused  to  become  engaged  to  him  until  he  had  obtained 
the  consent  of  his  mother  and  relations,  or,  at  the  least, 
until  he  had  taken  a  year  to  think  the  matter  over. 

The  truth  is  that,  although  I  was  still  so  young  I  had 
seen  and  heard  enough  of  the  misfortunes  of  unsuitable 
marriages,  nor  could  I  bear  that  it  should  ever  be  said  of 
me  that  I  had  taken  advantage  of  some  passing  fancy  to 
entangle  a  man  so  far  above  me  in  wealth  and  station. 
Therefore  I  would  permit  him  to  say  nothing  of  our  en- 
gagement, nor  did  I  speak  a  single  word  of  it  to  my  great- 
grandmother  or  my  friends.  Still  Ealph  and  I  saw  a 
great  deal  of  each  other  during  the  month  which  I  re- 
mained in  Durban,  for  it  is  a  gay  town,  and  almost  every 
day  there  were  parties,  and  when  there  were  none  we  rode 
out  together. 

It  was  during  one  of  these  rides  on  the  Berea  that  I  told 
him  what  I  knew  of  the  strange  history  of  my  grandfather 
and  grandmother,  not  all  of  it  indeed,  for  it  was  not  until 
the  book  was  dedicated  to  me  that  I  learned  the  exact  facts, 
the  matter  being  one  of  which  our  family  spoke  little. 
Ralph  listened  very  attentively,  and  when  I  had  clone  asked 
if  I  had  the  ring  and  locket  of  which  I  spoke. 

"  Here  they  arc,"  I  answered,  for  since  my  father's  death 
I  had  always  made  a  practice  of  wearing  both  of  them. 

He  examined  the  ring  with  its  worn  device  and  proud 
motto  of  "  Honour  first,"  and  as  he  deciphered  it  I  saw  him 


THE  SCHIMMEL'S  LAKT  RACE  389 

start,  but  when  he  came  to  look  at  the  miniatures  in  the 
locket  he  turned  quite  pale. 

"  Do  you  know,  Suzanne,"  he  said  presently,  u  I  believe 
that  we  must  be  distant  cousins;  at  the  least  I  am  sure 
that  I  have  seen  the  picture  from  which  one  of  those 
miniatures  was  originally  copied,  and  the  crest  and  motto 
are  those  of  my  family." 

Now  I  became  very  curious,  and  plied  him  with  ques- 
tions, but  he  would  say  no  more,  only  he  led  me  on  to 
talk  of  my  grandfather,  Ralph  Kenzie,  the  castaway,  and 
from  time  to  time  made  a  note  in  his  pocket-book.  Also 
afterwards  I  showed  him  the  writing  in  the  testament 
which  was  found  on  the  body  of  the  shipwrecked  lady,  my 
great-grandmother,  and  he  asked  me  for  an  impression  of 
the  ring,  and  to  allow  the  ivory  miniatures  and  the  writing 
to  be  photographed,  which  1  did. 

Within  three  days  of  that  ride  we  separated  for  a  while, 
not  without  heartache  on  both  our  parts  and  some  tears  on 
mine,  for  I  feared  that  when  once  he  had  lost  sight  of  me 
ho  would  put  me  from  his  mind,  and  as  I  loved  him  truly 
that  thought  was  sore.  But  he,  speaking  very  quietly,  said 
that  outside  death  only  one  thing  should  divide  us  from 
each  other,  namely,  my  own  decree. 

"Then  Ralph,  we  shall  be  one  for  ever,"  T  answered, 
for  at  the  moment  I  was  too  sad  for  any  artifice  of  maiden 
coyness. 

"  You  think  so  now,  dear,"  he  said,  "  but  time  will  show. 

Supposing  that  I  were  not ,"  and  he  stopped,  nor  would 

he  complete  the  sentence.  Indeed  those  words  of  his  tor- 
mented me  day  and  night  for  weeks,  for  T  finished  them  in 
a  hundred  ways,  each  more  fatal  than  the  last. 

"Well,  T  returned  to  the  farm,  and  immediately  after- 
wards mv  great-grandmother  took  the  fancv  of  dictating 


340  KW ALLOW 

this  history,  her  reason  for  doing  so  being,  as  I  believe, 
what  she  has  said  upon  the  subject  notwithstanding,  that 
she  desired  me  to  become  acquainted  with  the  actual  facts 
of  my  descent,  and  especially  with  those  of  the  fraud  which, 
in  their  deep  love  for  their  adopted  son,  my  grandfather, 
she  and  her  husband  practised  upon  the  Lord  Glenthirsk 
of  that  day.  This  story  which  (after  making  every  al- 
lowance for  slips  of  memory,  and  for  a  certain  readiness 
to  accept  supernatural  explanations  of  events  which  was 
characteristic  of  my  great-grandmother,  notwithstanding 
her  affected  scepticism,  I  believed  to  be  perfectly  true  in  all 
essentials),  when  taken  together  with  my  lover's  words, 
gave  me  much  cause  for  thought.  But  I  said  nothing 
of  this  either  to  her  or  in  writing  to  him,  for  I  felt  the 
matter  to  be  delicate. 

By  each  weekly  mail  I  heard  from  Ealph,  but  although 
his  letters  were  full  of  love  and  kindness,  he  said  nothing 
of  coming  to  see  me,  and  this  I  could  not  understand,  since 
I  knew  that  it  would  not  be  difficult  for  him  to  take  a  few 
weeks'  leave.  Indeed,  I  was  sore  upon  the  point,  and 
hinted  as  much  to  him  in  my  letters,  but  still  he  made  no 
answer  to  that  part  of  them,  although  I  told  him  I  thought 
it  only  right  that  he  should  see  me  in  my  Boer  home,  and 
there  form  his  judgment  of  it  and  me. 

Nearly  six  months  had  gone  by  since  we  parted,  when 
one  day  I  heard  that  a  small  body  of  troops  was  coming 
to  the  neighbouring  township  to  relieve  the  company 
stationed  there.  Further  I  heard  that  they  were  High- 
landers, but  this  I  did  not  believe,  for,  so  far  as  I  knew, 
Ralph's  was  the  only  Highland  regiment  in  the  colony, 
and  he  said  nothing  of  any  such  movement  in  his  letters 
from  Durban. 

One  morning  mv  great-grandmother  finished  dictating 


THE  srirntMEL'fi  LAST  RACE  341 

her  history,  the  ending  of  which  seemed  to  affect  her  much, 
for  when  it  was  done  she  told  me  sharply  to  put  the  typed 
sheets  away  and  let  her  hear  or  see  no  more  of  them.  Then 
she  rose  with  difficulty,  for  the  dropsy  in  her  limbs  made 
her  inactive,  and  walked  with  the  help  of  a  stick  to  the 
stoep,  where  she  sat  down,  looking  across  the  plain  at  the 
solemn  range  of  the  Drakensberg  and  thinking  without 
doubt,  of  that  night  of  fear  when  my  grandfather  had 
rushed  down  its  steeps  upon  the  great  schimmel  to  save 
her  daughter  and  his  wife  from  an  awful  death. 

The  stead  where  we  lived  in  Xatal  was  built  under  the 
lea  of  a  projecting  spur  of  the  white-topped  koppie,  and 
over  that  spur  runs  a  footpath  leading  to  the  township. 
Suddenly  the  old  lady  looked  up  and,  not  twenty  yards 
away  from  her,  saw  standing  on  the  ridge  of  it,  as  though 
in  doubt  which  way  to  turn,  a  gentleman  dressed  in  the 
kilted  uniform  of  an  officer  of  a  Highland  regiment  the 
like  of  which  she  had  never  seen  before. 

"Dear  Lord!"  1  heard  her  exclaim,  "here  is  a  white 
man  wearing  the  mooclia  of  a  Kaffir.  Suzanne!  Suzanne! 
come  and  send  away  this  half-clad  fellow.'' 

Putting  down  my  papers  I  ran  from  the  room  and  at  a 
single  glance  saw  that  "  the  half-clad  fellow  "  was  none 
other  than  Ralph  himself.  In  my  delight  I  lost  my  head, 
and  forgetting  everything  except  that  my  betrothed  was 
there  before  me,  I  sprang  from  the  sioep  and,  flying  up 
the  little  slope,  I  fell  into  his  open  arms.  For  a  few 
seconds  there  was  silence,  then  from  behind  me  rose  a 
dreadfiil  shriek  followed  by  cries  for  help.  Freeing  myself 
from  Ealph's  embrace,  I  looked  round  to  see  my  great- 
grandmother  hobbling  towards  us  with  uplifted  stick. 
Enlph  put  his  eye-glass  in  his  eye  and  looked  at  her. 

"Who  is  this  old  ladv,  Suzanne?"  he  asked. 


342  ti  WALLOW 

Before  I  could  answer  there  came  from  her  lips  such 
a  torrent  of  indignation  as  I  had  never  heard  before. 

"  What  is  she  saying?"  asked  Ralph  again,  who  could 
not  understand  one  word  of  Dutch.  "  She  seems  put 
out." 

"  It  is  my  great-grandmother,  the  Vrouw  •Botmar,"  I 
faltered,  "  and  she  does  not  understand — I  have  never 
told  her/' 

"'  Ah!  I  see.  Well,  perhaps  it  would  be  as  well  to  ex- 
plain," he  answered,  which  I  accordingly  began  to  do  as 
best  I  could,  feeling  more  foolish  than  ever  I  did  before. 
As  I  stammered  out  my  excuses  I  saw  her  face  change, 
and  guessed  that  she  was  no  longer  listening  to  me. 

"Who  does  the  man  remind  me  of?  "  she  said,  speaking 
aloud,  but  to  herself.  "  Allemachter!  his  face  is  the  face 
of  that  English  lord  who  visited  us  with  the  lawyer  more 
than  fifty  years  ago.  Yes,  his  face  is  the  face  of  Ralph's 
cousin.  Girl,"  she  added,  turning  on  me  fiercely,  "  tell 
me  that  man's  name." 

"  His  name  is  Lord  Glenthirsk." 

"Lord  Glenthirsk!  The  same  face  and  the  same  name 
and  you  in  his  arms.  Is  God  then  making  a  sequel  to  the 
story  which  I  finished  this  day?  Come,"  and  she  hobbled 
back  to  the  stoep.  "  Be  seated,"  she  said  when  we  had 
reached  it.  "  jSTow,  speak;  no,  Suzanne,  give  me  that 
kaross." 

I  handed  her  the  rug,  wondering  what  she  meant  to  do 
with  it,  and  disturbed  as  I  was,  nearly  burst  into  hysterics 
when  I  saw  her  solemnly  place  it  upon  Ralph's  knees  say- 
ing, "  The  man  has  lost  his  garments  and  will  catch  a 
chill." 

"  Would  you  kindly  explain,"  said  Ralph  blandly,  "  what 
the  old  lady  is  at  now?  Really  I  do  not  feel  cold." 


THE  SCHIMMEL'S  LAST  RACE  343 

"  Your  kilt  surprises  her,"  I  stammered;  whereat  he 
began  to  laugh. 

"  Silence/'  she  exclaimed  in  so  vigorous  a  voice  that  he 
stopped  at  once.  "  Xow  tell  your  story;  no,  I  forgot,  the 
man  is  not  educated,  do  you  interpret  for  him,  Suzanne." 

"  First  I  have  something  to  say  for  myself,  grand- 
mother," I  answered,  and  in  a  few  words  I  told  that  Ealph 
and  I  were  affianced,  though  I  had  said  nothing  of  it, 
because  I  wished  to  give  him  opportunity  to  change  his 
mind  if  he  should  desire  to  do  so. 

"  Change  his  mind!  "  said  the  old  lady,  with  a  glare  of 
indignation.  "  I  should  like  to  see  him  dare  to  change 
his  mind,  this  Englishman  whom  you  seem  to  have 
honoured  thus,  opsitting  with  him  without  my  leave.  A 
lord  indeed?  What  do  I  care  for  lords?  The  question  is 
whether  I  should  not  order  the  English  creature  off  the 
place;  yes,  and  I  would  do  it  were  not  his  face  the  face  of 
Ealph's  cousin,  and  his  name  the  name  Glenthirsk." 

When  I  had  interpreted  as  much  of  this  speech  as  I 
thought  necessary,  there  was  a  little  silence,  after  which 
Ealph  began  to  speak  very  solemnly. 

"  Listen,  Suzanne,"  he  said,  "  and  repeat  my  words  to 
your  great-grandmother.  She  says  that  my  name  is  Lord 
Glenthirsk,  but  within  the  last  few  days  I  have  come  to 
believe  that  it  is  nothing  of  the  sort,  but  only  plain  Ealph 
Mackenzie." 

"What  do  you  mean?"  I  asked,  astonished. 

"  I  mean,  Suzanne,  that  if  your  legitimate  descent  from 
that  Ealph  Mackenzie  who  was  cast  away  about  sixty  years 
ago  on  the  coast  of  the  Transkei  can  be  proved — as  I  be- 
lieve it  can,  for  I  have  made  inquiries,  and  find  that  his 
marriage  to  your  grandmother  to  which  her  mother  who 
still  lives  can  bear  witness,  was  duly  registered — then  you 


344  SWALLO  W 

are  the  Baroness  Glenthirsk  of  Glenthirsk,  and  I,  the 
descendant  of  a  younger  son,  am  only  Lieutenant  Kalph 
Mackenzie  of  Her  Majesty's  —  Highlanders." 

"  Oh!  Kalph,  how  can  this  be?  "  I  gasped.  "  I  thought 
that  in  England  men  took  rank,  not  the  women." 

"  So  they  do  generally,"  he  answered;  "  but  as  it  happens 
in  our  family  the  title  descends  in  the  female  line,  and 
with  it  the  entailed  estates,  so  that  you  would  succeed  to 
your  father's  rights  although  he  never  enjoyed  them.  Su- 
zanne, I  am  not  speaking  lightly;  all  this  while  that  I  have 
kept  away  from  you  I  have  been  inquiring  in  Scotland  and 
the  Cape,  for  I  sent  home  the  photographs  of  those  minia- 
tures and  a  statement  of  the  facts,  and  upon  my  word  I 
believe  it  to  be  true  that  you  and  no  other  are  the  heiress 
of  our  house." 

Almost  mechanically,  for  I  was  lost  in  amazement,  1 
translated  his  words.  My  great-grandmother  thought  a 
while  and  said: 

"  Wonderful  are  the  ways  of  the  Lord  who  thus  in  my 
old  age  answers  my  prayers  and  rolls  from  my  back  the 
load  of  my  sin.  Suzanne,  ask  that  Scotchman  if  he  still 
means  to  marry  you,"  and  seeing  me  hesitate,  as  well  I 
might,  she  struck  her  stick  upon  the  floor  and  added, 
"  Obey,  girl,  and  ask." 

So  with  great  shame  I  asked,  explaining  that  I  was 
forced  to  it. 

"  Do  I  still  mean  to  marry  you,  Suzanne  ? "  he  said, 
astonished.  "  Why  surely  you  must  understand  that  the 
question  is,  do  you  still  intend  to  marry  me?  When  I 
begged  you  to  take  me  some  months  ago  I  had  much  to 
offer;  to-day  if  things  be  as  I  am  sure  they  are,  I  am  but  a 
penniless  Scottish  gentleman,  while  you  are  one  of  the 
richest  and  most  noble  ladies  in  Great  Britain." 


THE  SCHIMMEL'S   LAST  RACK  345 

By  way  of  answer  I  looked  at  him  in  a  fashion  which  I 
trust  he  understood,,  but  before  1  could  speak  Vrouw  Bot- 
mar  broke  in,  for,  as  usual,  I  had  translated. 

"  Tell  the  man  to  stop  talking  about  money  and  rank 
after  his  godless  English  manner.  I  wish  to  inquire  of  his 
character  and  religion."  Ancl  so  she  did,  clearly  and  at 
length,  but  I  do  not  think  that  I  need  set  down  her  ques- 
tions or  his  answers. 

At  last,  when  we  were  both  overwhelmed  and  gasping 
for  breath,  I  refused  flatly  to  ask  anything  more,  whereon 
she  ceased  her  examination,  saying: 

"  Well,  if  he  speaks  the  truth,  which  is  doubtful,  he 
does  not  seem  to  be  any  worse  than  other  men,  though 
that  is  saying  little  enough.  Is  he  sound  in  wind  and 
limb,  and  what  illnesses  has  he  had?  " 

"  You  must  ask  him  yourself,"  I  replied,  losing  patience, 
whereon  she  called  me  a  "  mealy-mouthed  little  fool "  and 
laughed.  Then  of  a  sudden  she  said,  "  Kneel,  both  of 
you,"  and,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  we  obeyed  her,  for  we, 
and  especially  Ealph,  were  afraid  of  the  old  lady.  Yes, 
there  we  knelt  on  the  stoep  before  her,  while  a  Kaffir  girl 
stood  outside  and  stared  with  her  mouth  open. 

"  Ralph  Kenzie,"  she  said,  "  whatever  else  you  may  be, 
at  least  you  are  an  honest  man  like  your  grandfather  before 
you,  for  were  it  not  so  you  would  never  have  come  to  tell 
this  child  that  your  fortune  i.s  her  fortune,  and  your  title 
her  title,  though  whether  this  be  the  case  or  not,  I  neither 
know  nor  care,  since  at  least  you  are  of  the  blood  of  my 
long  dead  adopted  son,  and  that  is  more  to  me  than  any 
wealth  or  rank. 

"As  for  you.  Suzanne,  you  are  port  and  deceitful,  for 
you  have  kept  secret  from  me  that  which  T  had  a  right  to 
learn;  also  you  have  too  good  an  opinion  of  your  own  looks, 


340  SWALLOW 

which  as  I  tell  you  now  for  the  last  time,  are  nothing  com- 
pared to  mine  at  your  age,  or  even  to  those  of  my  daughter 
Suzanne,  your  grandmother.  But  this  I  will  say,  you  have 
a  good  heart  and  some  of  the  spirit  of  your  forbears,  there- 
fore " — and  she  laid  one  of  her  heavy  hands  on  the  head 
of  each  of  us — "  I,  old  Suzanne  Botmar,  bless  you  both. 
You  shall  be  married  next  week,  and  may  you  be  happy  in 
your  marriage,  and  have  children  that  would  be  a  credit 
to  me  and  your  great-grandfather,  could  we  have  lived  to 
see  them. 

"  There,  there,  Balph  and  Suzanne — the  first  ones,  my 
own  lost  Ealph  and  Suzanne — will  be  glad  to  hear  of  this 
when  I  come  to  tell  them  of  it,  as  I  shall  do  shortly.  Yes, 
they  will  be  glad  to  hear  of  it — -"  and  she  rose  and  hobbled 
back  to  the  sit-Tcammer,  turning  at  the  open  door  to  call 
out: 

"  Girl,  where  are  your  manners  ?  Make  that  Scotchman 
some  of  your  coffee." 

So  we  were  married,  and  within  the  week,  for,  all  my 
protestations  notwithstanding,  the  Vrouw  Botmar  would 
suffer  no  delay.  Moreover,  by  means  of  some  other  in- 
terpreter, Ealph,  playing  traitor,  secretly  brought  my 
arguments  to  nothing,  and  indeed  there  was  a  cause  for 
hurry,  for  just  then  his  regiment  was  ordered  to  return 
to  England. 

It  was  a  strange  sight,  that  marriage,  for  my  great- 
grandmother  attended  it  seated  on  the  voor-kisse  of  her 
best  waggon  drawn  by  eighteen  white  oxen,  the  descendants 
of  Digaan's  royal  cattle  that  Swart  Piet  stole  to  bring 
destruction  upon  the  Umpondwana.  By  her  side  was  her 
husband,  old  Jan  Botmar,  whom  she  caused  to  be  carried  to 
the  waggon  and  tied  in  it  in  his  chair.  He,  poor  old  man, 


THE  SCHIMMEL'fi  LAST  RACE  347 

knew  nothing  of  what  was  passing,  but  from  some  words 
he  let  fall  we  gathered  that  he  believed  that  he  was  once 
more  starting  on  the  great  trek  from  the  Transkei.  My 
Ealph,  he  thought,  was  his  adopted  child,  perhaps  because 
of  some  inherited  similarity  of  voice,  for  he  called  him 
"  son,"  but  my  own  presence  puzzled  him,  for  he  said 
once  or  twice,  "  So  Suzanne  has  escaped  from  that  hell- 
hound, Swart  Piet.  Have  you  killed  the  dog,  Ealph? 
Ralph,  have  you  killed  the  dog?  " 

Thus  we  went  to  the  little  church  where  the  chaplain 
of  the  regiment  was  to  wed  us,  the  pipers  going  first,  playing 
a  wild  marriage  march  on  their  bagpipes.  Next  came 
Ealph  and  I  walking  side  by  side,  and  after  us  the  waggon 
with  my  great-grandparents,  while  the  rear  was  brought 
up  by  a  guard  of  honour  formed  of  every  available  soldier 
in  the  company.  Outside  the  open  door  of  the  church  the 
waggon  was  halted,  and  from  it  the  Vrouw  Botmar  wit- 
nessed the  ceremony,  causing  the  register  to  be  brought 
to  her  to  sign.  This  she  did,  resting  the  book  upon  the 
head  of  the  Kaffir  driver,  down  whose  back  she  managed 
to  upset  the  ink. 

"  Xever  mind,"  she  said,  not  the  least  disturbed,  "  it 
cannot  make  the  poor  ereatiire  blacker  than  he  is." 

"  Oh!  how  can  I  leave  you,  grandmother?  "  I  said  to  her 
afterwards. 

"  Child,"  she  answered,  with  a  stern  face,  "  in  my  youth, 
to  keep  one  I  loved  near  to  me,  1  committed  a  great  sin. 
Xow  by  way  of  penance  T  part  from  one  T  love;  yes,  being 
yet  alive  I  say  farewell  for  ever  to  the  last  of  my  race. 
Thus  in  our  age  do  we  pay  for  the  sins  of  youth.  Go, 
and  Cfod  go  with  you." 

So  T  placed  my  hand  in  that  of  my  husband  and  went. 
When  we  reached  this  country  it  was  proved  that  the  rank 


348  HWA1,LO\Y 

and  estates  were  mine  by  law,  for  the  evidence  of  ray 
descent  was  too  strong  to  be  disputed.  I  did  not  wish 
to  take  either,  Imt  Ralph  insisted  on  it  and  1  was  over- 
ruled. Indeed,  had  I  not  done  so,  it  seems  that  confusion 
and  endless  law-suits  might  have  resulted  in  the  future, 
perhaps  after  I  am  dead. 

Six  months  afterwards,  in  this  castle  of  Glenthirsk,  I 
received  a  letter,  at  the  foot  of  which  was  faintly  scrawled 
the  signature  of  Suzanne  Botmar.  It  was  short  and  ran 
thus: — 

"  GRAND-DAUGHTER  SUZANNE, 

"  Last  night  your  great-grandfather  died.  To-day  I 
buried  him,  and  to-morrow  I  shall  die  also,  for  after 
being  together  for  so  many  years  I  miss  his  company  and 
mean  to  seek  it  again.  Till  we  meet  in  Heaven,  if  your 
pomp  and  riches  will  allow  you  to  come  there  through  the 
eye  of  whatever  needle  it  has  pleased  God  to  choose  for 
you,  farewell  to  you  and  your  husband,  whom  I  love  be- 
cause Ralph  Kenzie's  blood  is  in  his  veins." 

As  I  learnt  by  other  letters  on  that  morrow  of  which  she 
spoke  my  great-grandmother,  the  Vrouw  Botmar,  did  die, 
for  even  in  this  she  would  not  be  thwarted,  and  was  buried 
on  the  evening  of  the  same  day  by  the  side  of  her  husband, 
Jan  Botmar. 


THE   END 


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